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TIL that in 1867, when a San Francisco policeman wanted to involuntarily commit an insane but harmless man who declared himself emperor, the police chief refused, saying “that he had shed no blood; robbed no one; and despoiled no country; which is more than can be said of his fellows in that line.”

e0pPD TIL that the state of Louisiana caps compensation for people wrongfully convicted of crimes at $25,000/year with a maximum payout of $250,000.
wLJEE TIL the I-710 freeway in Los Angeles was never finished because of opposition by residents in South Pasadena
6rRl TIL that in some cultures children were intentionally given names with unfavourable meanings like ‘ugly’ and 'crippled’, as it was thought that this would make them less desirable to child-stealing demons.
Wkw4X TIL that male Billy Goats smell so bad because they urinate on their own head, beard, and front legs to smell more attractive to females during their mating season
aw84y Not really, but urine has been a faddish health drink for centuries nonetheless. Celts in the Iberian peninsula gargled it to whiten their teeth about 50 years before Christ; amaroli is a Sanskrit word that refers to urine therapy, which in ancient Ayurvedic practice meant imbibing urine in the morning, mid stream; Proverbs 5:15 is thought to be in support of the act ("Drink waters from thy own cistern, flowing water from thy own well"); and J.D. Salinger famously sipped his own, as did the former prime minister of India, Morarji Desai, who even appeared on 60 Minutes to defend his habit.Click here to launch a gallery about urine therapy.