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TIL that Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture is considered the first "diss track", as well as being the first recorded use of firearms in a piece of music. These both stem from the cannons at the song's climax, which were representative of the Napoleonic Army's own cannons being turned against them.

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E1PGx TIL during the murder of 1,500 Jews from Józefów, the commander of the German Reserve Police Battalion 101 allowed his subordinates to opt out of direct participation. Fewer than 12 men out of a battalion of 500 did so.
OGZ1a TIL the idiom “the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray” originates from a Scottish poem in 1786: “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft a-gley, / An’ lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain, / For promised joy”
7r7Wb TIL a 1997 study found that the action of drinking is more thirst quenching than being rehydrated through a nasogastric tube. This is because the physical sensation of drinking tells the brain that you are rehydrating.
Kg4Q TIL that a form of punishment towards homosexuality in Iraq involves using a strong glue to seal the anus, followed by the inducing of diarrhea, which results in torturous death.
698Yl TIL a young woman's head swelled from her usual measurement of 22 inches to 24.8 inches (and the shape of her face changed) after she used hair dye. This was because the hair dye had a chemical in it called PPD (paraphenylenediamine), which can cause serious allergic reactions in certain people.