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TIL of the “Well to Hell” hoax, where it was reported than a group of Russian engineers (while drilling into the ground) broke into Hell, and screams of the damned could be heard. The Trinity Broadcasting Network ran with the story and claimed it proved the existence of Hell.

LkOmP TIL after journalist Paulette Cooper wrote an article criticizing the Church of Scientology, they tried to get her committed to a psychiatric ward by writing her name and number on street walls, subscribing her to pornographic mail lists, and faking bomb threats with her stationary and fingerprints.
yQMop TIL the tale generally considered to be the first detective story is Edgar Allan Poe's, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," in 1841. The story describes the extraordinary analytical power used by Monsieur C. Auguste Dupin to solve a series of murders in Paris.
5V7WD TIL There are some state-funded programs that allow people to adopt dogs that failed government training for being too friendly or for some other reasons
9YeWm TIL about the Freedom Summer Murders, where 3 Civil Rights workers were abducted and killed by local law enforcement. Despite sufficient evidence, the state of Mississippi refused to prosecute the perpetrators, and some were only convicted of Civil Rights violations and served little time in prison
oBkNA TIL about Lakshmi Tatma, an Indian girl born with four arms and four legs. Named after a Hindu goddess often depicted as four-armed, the girl became worshipped, and a circus offered to buy her. After a 27-hour surgery done by thirty surgeons, done for free, Lakshmi's extra limbs were removed.