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TIL That Ben Franklin’s quote “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety,” was actually about the legislature’s right to tax the citizenry to pay for, among other things, security measures.

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JYGrl TIL during the French Revolution , Robespierre law of 22 Prairial, year II (June 10, 1794), streamlined revolutionary justice, denying the accused any effective right to self-defense and eliminating all sentences other than acquittal or death. Leading to almost 800 execution/month
l7jm7 TIL Columbus used foreknowledge of the 1504 lunar eclipse to convince indigenous Jamaicans to support him
D1Rde TIL about the Wittmoor bog trackway, two historic corduroy (wooden log) roads, discovered in 1898 in Hamburg, Germany. Dating of the logs used to construct the road reveal they were cut down in 330 AD during the Roman Empire.
WkVNA TIL For the opening song to "Blazing Saddles," Mel Brookes advertised for a "Frankie Laine-type" singer. Frankie Laine himself offered his services and passionately sang the western tune without the knowledge that it was for a western spoof.
d5p7 TIL that the Incans, despite having a large empire, had no currency and no merchant class; citizens paid the government with labor and received necessities in return