› added 5 years ago

196

TIL that Boston Corbett, the soldier who killed Abraham Lincoln's assassin John Wilkes Booth, was devoutly religious and amongst other things castrated himself with a pair of scissors in 1858, believing it would help him resist temptation by women and get into heaven.

Read more newenglandhistoricalsociety.com

via reddit.com

QNk9E TIL about the Angel Makers of Nagyrév. A group of women who killed at least 50-300 people(depends on your source). In the early stages it was to save women from abusive husbands.
yQerJ TIL that thousands of years before the modern procedure was invented, the Ancient Romans successfully treated headaches and mental disorders with electroconvulsive therapy using electric fish.
4M9g TIL Coco Chanel was an anti-semite and stole the firm Chanel Perfumes from the Jewish owners while they were being slaughtered by the Nazis.
j66VE TIL of the Mapogo Lion Coalition, a brutal pack of 6 lions who feasted across Africa and taking over 170,000 acres of land. They killed 100 lions and cubs in a year, split up briefly after arguments, and died protecting each other in a final battle.
e0LlE TIL: The White throated Rail, went extinct due to invasive predator introduction, then later re-evolved from a different related species.