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TIL Columbus used foreknowledge of the 1504 lunar eclipse to convince indigenous Jamaicans to support him

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nWrkY TIL In the 1950s the CIA would spread rumors of vampires in the Philippines to dissuade communist rebels. They would ambush the back member of a patrol silently, kill them before draining them of blood and poking two holes in their neck before leaving the body just off the road.
Eg0p TIL the F4 Phantom II was called “World’s Leading Distributor of MiG Parts” because it destroyed so many MiG fighters
Ve6m TIL Egyptians ‘created’ modern cats through selective breeding, choosing the most sociable to keep mating
yQPPM TIL that at some point in 1847, the chief executioner of France informed the government that he was unable to carry out that day’s execution because he’d pawned the guillotine to pay off a debt and lacked the funds to buy it back
YPkG TIL the first 1 million dollar budget movie in America (1916) also featured the first full female nudity in a mainstram film. It was a commercial success, but no copies of it exist. It is a lost movie.