› added 4 years ago

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TIL of José Sanjurjo a prominent figure in the Spanish civil war, who died when the biplane he rode which was overburdened with his luggage crashed. Before flight the pilot warned Sanjurjo of the danger to which he replied with, "I need to wear proper clothes as the new caudillo of Spain."

0d18N TIL that linguists estimate that at least half the world's 6,500 languages will become extinct in the next one hundred years. That means, on average, a language is dying about every two weeks
1aGyV TIL that early phonographs didn't have volume control. People stuffed socks and towels into them to quiet them--which is where we get the phrase "put a sock in it"
ZgPv TIL in falconry that birds reared from hatchlings by a human become sexually imprinted on that human. To breed, the human lets the male bird copulate with his head while he is wearing a special hat with pockets on to catch the male bird’s semen.
9YdLp TIL of Pēteris Lapainis. A soldier who served in Russian imperial army, Soviet armed forces, Latvian army and German military. He fought in both world wars and received multiple high-ranking awards from each army he served. After second world war he spent 20 years in Soviet captivity.
v1vNj TIL of a boxing match between bi-sexual boxer, Emile Griffith, and Benny Paret. At weigh in, Paret antagonized Griffith by making homophobic remarks and grabbing Griffith's buttocks. Griffith won the fight by KO; Paret never regained consciousness and died in the hospital 10 days after the fight.