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TIL that in Medieval England all freemen were required by law to own weapons and armor based on their wealth. This ranged from a simple gambeson and iron cap for the poorest, to a mail shirt and helmet for the wealthiest.

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9YEoQ TIL before 1975, the BBC overwrote or destroyed old show tapes. Hundreds of Doctor Who episodes were thought lost forever, until a worldwide hunt began to turn them up—e.g. 2 in a London Mormon Church, and a goldmine 9 in Nigeria (employees had ignored instructions to burn them). 97 remain unfound.
NbEM TIL That World Fairs are still happening and the next one will be in 2015 at Milan
n989 TIL that Indonesia found that a dead Manta Ray is worth $40-$500 dollars, while Manta Ray tourism can bring in $1,000,000+ during a single Ray’s life. Indonesia now has 2.2 million square miles of protected ocean for the Manta Ray.
LGDd TIL a Canadian inventor tried to create a “supergun” which could fire satellites into orbit from a 512 foot-long barrel embedded inside a hill. When Western funding failed, he turned to military application of his ideas for Saddam Hussein, but then he was assassinated in Brussels.
or8K TIL of ‘Tatort’, a German detective series originally created in 1970 and still running. Tomorrow’s episode will be #880. Every episode is 90 minutes long.