› added 12 years ago

100

TIL that thirteenth century emperor Frederick II attempted to raise children without human contact to see if they developed a natural language. The children did not survive.

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XxeX TIL The US Government has spent about half a billion dollars broadcasting tv and radio into Cuba. The signal has always been blocked and 90% of Cubans have never even heard of the program. Congress continues to fund the program $27 million a year.
LP90 TIL A bill was introduced in Maine to outlaw tomatoes in clam chowder
DQ1LV TIL I learned about "Bombturbation", the cratering of the soil surface and mixing of the soil by explosive munitions, usually during warfare or related activities. Some places like Verdun in France (during WW1), were completely and almost irreversibly changed by this
WkKgd TIL an epidemic in 1872 affecting horses was a key moment in the animal rights movement as the founder of the ASPCA would stand in the street to block horse-drawn trolleys to insist that sick horses be returned to the stables instead of being worked to death
Z8neB TIL: In 2002 a Welshman in Bury St. Edmunds refusing to pay a small penalty charge for a vehicle-registration violation demanded a trial by combat with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency. His demand was rejected, and he was fined by a court.