› added 11 years ago

105

TIL Robert Damiens, who tried to kill Louis XV, had his hand burned with sulphur. Molten wax, molten lead, and boiling oil were poured into him. Then he was partially dismembered by harnessed horses and the executioner completed it with an axe. Then his still-living torso was burnt at the stake.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

epBMg TIL The Satanic Temple has an after school Satan Club
rN66W TIL, it is probable that severe bleeding hemorrhoids were the cause of the death of the Scottish explorer David Livingstone at the end of his third African journey
GY6rQ TIL the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 was passed after art dealer was caught lying about the source of hjs artwork, effectively classifying unverifiable claims of Indian heritage as false advertisement.
6EDYY TIL only 1% of DNA is for protein-coding genes, the rest 99% is non-coding and was once thought to be junk. Later studies found that it can't be that such a huge chunk is just "packaging material" and it is starting to become clear that it has many uses, mainly as a regulator of different sorts
Z45a TIL in 1965, seeds that were dated to 2,000 years old were discovered in an ancient jar in Israel. The seeds were kept in storage for 40 years and after they were planted, a tree that had been extinct for over 1800 years sprouted.