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TIL John Babbacombe Lee was imprisoned (with weak evidence) for the murder of his employer in 1884 and was set to hang on February 21st, 1885. Though being carefully tested, the trapdoor of the gallows malfunctioned three times, resulting in John's freedom due to, "suspected divine intervention."

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LQbJv TIL Nazi Germany, Francoist Spain, and the Soviet Union repressed Esperanto usage. The Nazis banned it because its creator was a Jew. Spain repressed it because Catalan nationalists used it heavily. Stalin banned it because the Association of Soviet Esperantists was thought to be a spy organization.
plAG TIL that while Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird described playing on the 1992 US Olympic basketball team as the greatest experience of their lives, Michael Jordan said that the biggest benefit was learning about his teammates’ weaknesses. He later won three NBA finals against them.
wLl97 TIL about Roman Emperor Elagabalus, who loved to dress up as a woman, wore make up, depilated himself, requested to be refered to as a woman and acted as a courtesan. He also offered a large reward to anyone who could make him a vagina, which makes him the first recorded transgender person.
QYJe TIL that despite increases in computer power, each Shrek movie has taken about twice as many hours to render as the one before it. Dreamworks calls this “Shrek’s Law”.
Brw1D Today I learned that there was a plague which caused people to dance in the middle ages... crazy history out there!