Post * gMPE8 — Curious Curator

› added 6 years ago

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TIL in 1857, a congressman from New York killed the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia over the attorney’s affair with his wife. He claimed temporary insanity (thanks to his wife’s infidelity), the first time this defense was used in U.S. history. He was acquitted.

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6EQ7W TIL that in 2009, a 10 year old girl suffering from cancer had a dying wish to watch Pixar's Up. Pixar granted her wish, flew to her home with a DVD of the movie and held a private screening of the film. She died later that night.

XERJQ TIL Author Stephen King decided to take his novel "Rage" out of print due to the fact that the book was found in the lockers of 5 school shooters over the span of 9 years.

LkkDQ TIL of Leo Major, a French Canadian soldier, one of three Commonwealth soldiers to receive the Distinguished Conduct Medal twice in two separate wars - the first for single-handedly liberating the City of Zwolle in WWII; the second for defending Hill 355 with 18 men against 14 000 Chinese in Korea.

YKrr TIL that on an island in Indonesia, if a child dies before he has started teething, the baby is placed inside the trunk of a growing tree. The hole is then sealed and as the tree begins to heal, the child is believed to be absorbed. Dozens of babies may be interred within a single tree.

OjjX TIL on Halloween in 1919, kids broke windows, overturned garbage cans, rushed street cars and burnt down a barn and the police responded by negotiating with teenagers, re-righting garbage cans and making sure all kids went home to bed. No arrests were made.