› added 9 months ago

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TIL Matthew Shepard had a sexual history with one of his killers.

Read more theguardian.com

via reddit.com

rRGEd TIL that the Dutch East India Company was the first company to ever go public on a stock exchange, raising enough capital to become a multinational conglomerate with over 70,000 employees. At it's peak, the company was worth 78 million Dutch guilders - equivalent to $7.4 trillion today.
G9wJ TIL a man named John Wesley Hyatt invented a replacement for ivory billiard balls. The balls were made of nitrocellulose, a substance prone to exploding when struck by things such as a pool cue.
vxNB TIL A Russian town was once “besieged” by hungry bears with as many as 30 bears being reported circling the small town
8aDdK TIL there are more people who learned English as a second language than native speakers.
7EkM TIL the French Olympian Violette Morris was not only a lesbian, a heavy smoker, and part of the Gestapo, but also surgically removed her breasts so she could race cars more effectively.