› added 10 years ago

168

TIL After Columbus’s first voyage, he described the natives as “so naive and so free with their possessions…When you ask for something…they never say no. To the contrary, they offer to share with anyone…” He promised from his next voyage “as much gold…and as many slaves” as the crown asks.

Read more jacobinmag.com

via reddit.com

rRj60 TIL Switzerland has 7 simultaneous "presidents", each with equal power. Every year they rotate control of 7 federal depts & who acts as "head of state" (e.g. when dealing with other countries). They come from various parties — right now it's 2 conservatives, 2 liberals, 2 socialists, and a centrist
Brb6K TIL that a man survived in a capsized boat at the bottom of the ocean for 60 hours in complete darkness.
EOG7 TIL Audie Murphy, WWII highest decorated soldier, stood alone on a burning tank destroyer firing a machine gun at attacking German soldiers and tanks. Wounded and out of ammunition, Murphy climbed off the tank, refused medical attention, and led his men on a successful counterattack.
4XRxo TIL in 2011 at a rural Western NY high school, 14 students came down with an illness: verbal outbursts, tics, seizures, and speech problems. Fears about the cause of the outbreak drew national media attention. One girl had Tourette syndrome. The rest had mass psychogenic illness: mass hysteria.
EgPZV TIL that Bing and other "paradogs" were trained to drop with parachutes behind enemy lines in WW2. Bing earned a medal for Gallantry for excellent patrol work while serving with the 13th Btn. Airborne Division in Normandy, June 1944.