› added 12 years ago

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TIL that starting in 1992, a group of activists began publishing Continuum, a magazine that denied the existence of HIV/AIDS. It ceased publication in 2001 after all of its editors died of AIDS-related illnesses.

R5bp7 TIL that Louis IX of France, also known as Saint Louis, was viewed as “primus inter pares” (first among equals) among the kings and rulers of Europe as he commanded the largest army and ruled the largest and wealthiest kingdom, the centre of European art and intellectual thought at the time.
D1b4P TIL one of the richest families in history was a German merchant dynasty, the Fuggers. One member, Jackob Fugger (d. 1525) ranks among the wealthiest men in modern history with $400 billion, 2% of Europe's GDP. The name Fugger was originally rendered as, Fucker.
dAD9 TIL the whip is the first man made device capable of breaking the sound barrier. Also, the crack of the whip is actually a sonic boom.
oBrDW TIL that President Roosevelt's dog, Fala, was so well known to Americans during his presidency that American soldiers during the Battle of the Bulge would ask each other what the president's dog was named in order to prove that they weren't Germans in disguise.
1Ybd TIL that in 1982, Joe Strummer (frontman of The Clash) was pressured by his manager to go into hiding in Texas as a publicity stunt for the band’s upcoming tour. Strummer instead decided to genuinely disappear to France for months, where he “dicked around” and ran the Paris Marathon.