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TIL that Ben Franklin was involved in the first fraternal hazing death in America. In 1737 a man died after flaming liquid was thrown on him in a mock initiation at the Philadelphia Masonic Temple. Franklin, a Freemason, was a witness, and the perpetrator was found guilty of manslaughter and branded

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oQjL TIL that a New Orleans restaurant has been owned by the same family since 1840. Antoine’s, famous for Oyster Rockefeller and Baked Alaska, has had five generations of the family run it, and a sixth is preparing to take over. It is the US’s oldest continuously family-run restaurant.
jRDR TIL in 1970 a protest group broke into a draft board office by slipping in during the day and taping a note on the door: “Please don’t lock this door tonight.” They returned that night to find that the staff had obediently left the office open.
dXd9 TIL in medieval England children were beaten on the 28th of December to remind them of King Herod’s cruelty.
4XZW5 TIL that "Charlie" as used to refer to enemies in movies like Forrest Gump comes from the spoken alphabet, where the words "Victor Charlie" meant the letters VC = Viet Cong. As this was used a lot in radio communications, over time it became shortened to just "Charlie".
aoPo TIL in Japan women give chocolates to men on Valentine’s Day and the men reciprocate it a month later for White Day.