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TIL of Lingchi, also known as death by a thousand cuts, which was a form of torture and execution used from roughly 900 CE until it was banned in 1905. It involved methodically slicing portions of the body over an extended period of time, eventually resulting in death.

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p8wpZ TIL "breaker boys" between age 8-12 were employed to work 10 hours a day, 6 days a week to separate impurities from coal. Despite public disapproval, the practice of employing children in this line of work lasted for decades, only finally ending in the US in the 1920s.
wLmeW TIL during the Siege of Leningrad, the Soviet military warned all soldiers that if they surrendered their families would be shot. Later, one of the soldiers who ended up surrendering was Stalin's own son, Yakov Dzhugashvili.
Brv9r TIL there is a 4 grade scale to measure your penis erection.
1ak0P TIL that the British Army has the same number of soldiers now as it did in 1830, despite the UK's population being 4x larger now
GYgWJ Today I learned that the word “magi” (or the singular “magus”) refers to followers of Zoroastrianism, an ancient Persian religion whose modern-day adherents included Freddie Mercury. “Magi” also gave rise to the “magic” and “magician,” as Zoroastrians were known to practice astrology and alchemy.