› added 8 years ago

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TIL That Archduke Franz Ferdinand owned an early version of a bulletproof vest made from silk. Despite modern tests indicating that a bullet of the era would have been stopped by it, and Ferdinand knowing that there was a threat to his well-being, he did not wear the vest on the fateful day.

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ekrD TIL that the deadly Boomslang snake’s venom makes you bleed from all of your orifices (nose, gums, eyes, and anus included) until you die
yvkJ TIL that there was a female member of the Jackass crew who suffered a severe injury during one of the stunts, after that members of the show decided to no longer use females for stunts. Johnny Knoxville said “It was like watching your sister get hurt, and we don’t want to see girls getting hurt”.
PYPKw TIL that Stalin hired people to edit photographs throughout his reign. People who became his enemy were removed from every photograph pictured with him. Sometimes, Stalin would even insert himself in photos at key moments in history, or had technicians make him look taller in them.
nWpAd TIL Tweezers are known to have been used in predynastic Egypt. There are drawings of Egyptian craftsmen holding hot pots over ovens with a double-bow shaped tool.
pLOe TIL that Sir Isaac Newton, while Master of the Royal Mint, personally went undercover in bars and taverns to root out rampant counterfeiting, which was high treason (punishable by being hanged, drawn and quartered). He successfully prosecuted 28 counterfeiters in 18 months.