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TIL meticulous records were kept of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea from 1392 to 1865. One example of the contents is when King Taejong fell from a horse and immediately told those around him not to let a recorder know about it. Both his fall, and the subsequent command were recorded.

4Ze5 TIL the second Shah of Iran built a marble slide for his underground baths that was specifically designed for women in his harem to use to slide “into the arms of their lord and master before being playfully dunked in a pool.”
R7Wx1 TIL that Joss Whedon wrote the Buffy episode "Hush" after hearing people say that the show was only successful because of the dialogue. Hush, with only 17 minutes of dialogue, became the only episode nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Writing and is considered to be one of the show's greatest.
m1aGO TIL that the son of the PM of the Japanese puppet of Manchukuo was feeding information to the Red Army of Japanese activity. When the Soviets invaded Manchuria and his father and the ministers were planning to escape, he informed the Red Army of the fact and they arrested the cabinet.
R7kxw TIL Richard Klinkhamer's wife "disappeared" in 1991. He then wrote a book on seven ways to kill your spouse. In 2000, new owners of his former home found the skeletal remains of his wife, and in 2001 he was sentenced to 7 years in prison. He was released in 2003 for good behavior.
KYMW4 TIL that when Mount Everest was first measured it was found to be exactly 29,000 feet tall. It was reported as 29,002 because surveyors worried the public would assume 29,000 was merely an estimate.