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TIL In ancient China, during the Imperial Exams people were isolated in small rooms for 3 days with only a jug of water, a chamber pot, and writing supplies. To prevent favoritism official typists would copy all the exams so the examiners wouldn’t recognize the handwriting of the exam takers.

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7rJ7Z TIL the Stasi, East Germany's secret police force, employed around 90,000 full-time staff, assisted by around 170,000 unofficial informants and countless other occasional collaborators. It is estimated that there was one agent or informant for every 6.5 people living in the GDR.
KOa59 TIL Napoleons military genius was considered to be so enormeous that the entire stategy of the Coalition that defeated him (the Trachenberg Plan) depended on retreat wherever & whenever they faced him and only attacking his underlings until they built up an overwhelming numerical troop advantage.
womB6 TIL GM's Oldsmobile Toronado was the first domestic U.S. vehicle to include a passenger airbag in 1973. General Motors discontinued the option for its 1977 model year, citing a lack of consumer interest.
9YJjm TIL of Charles II of Navarre, or Charles "The Bad" - a continued schemer and manipulator throughout the Hundred Years War. Riddled with disease at the age of 54, he was encased in brandy soaked bandages. His incineration in a medical accident was widely considered at the time to be god's justice
Q7mk TIL only two groups of people in Sparta could have their names inscribed on their tombstones: women who died in childbirth and men who fell in combat.