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TIL: The Greek intellectual Hypatia was accused of witchcraft in March 415 CE where a mob seized her from her carriage, dragged her into a church, carved out her eyes and her living flesh with oyster shells, then tore her limb from limb.

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6Ekvl TIL that during WWII approximately 18,500 B-24s were produced, making it the world's most-produced bomber and American military aircraft in history. At its peak one B-24 was being produced every 59 minutes, a rate that exceeded the military's ability to use the aircraft.
VBJL4 TIL that in 2002, under Saddam Hussein's regime, Iraq reputedly held an election. Official Iraqi statistics said all 11.4 million registered voters voted to re-elect Saddam, with 0 voting for other candidates and 0 abstaining.
5VO5p TIL the historian meridian marker In Greenwich is off by about 100 meters because they looked "straight up" at stars, but to find "straight up" you use a weight to find "straight down", and the uneven mass of the Earth means that it doesn't point to the exact center of the Earth
N7kme TIL In 2003, Queen Elizabeth II visited a mock-up Nigerian village populated by actors playing villagers, coming as close to ordinary people there as possible because of security concerns
wQkJ TIL China’s only monogamous emperor made the decision to promote monogamy because one of his father’s women murdered his mom. He was hidden because the consort killed the emperor’s heirs in an attempt to gain power. When it was discovered that one had survived, she killed his mom instead.