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TIL In 1970, Hunter S. Thompson ran for Sheriff of the county that has Aspen, CO on the Freak Power ticket. He was only defeated because the Republican candidate withdrew in order to consolidate anti-Thompson voters.

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kJGye TIL the Nuremberg Trials executioner lied to the US Military about his prior experience. He botched a number of hangings prior to Nuremberg. The Nuremberg criminals had their faces battered bloody against the too-small trapdoor and were hung from short ropes, with many taking over 10 minutes to die.
NxKE TIL that P.T. Barnum noticed people were lingering too long at his exhibits so he posted signs indicating “This Way to the Egress”. Not knowing that “Egress” was another word for “Exit”, people followed the signs to what they assumed was a fascinating exhibit — and ended up outside.
e0DbE TIL that 1830's advertisements to entice people to move to Houston Texas, show the town as a bustling port city nestled next to a range of mountains, despite the port not built yet and the closest mountain over 500 miles away.
OpJL TIL the record for longest consecutive prison sentence ending with the prisoners release is 68 years. Paul Geidel was convicted of 2nd degree murder at the age of 17 and was released at the age of 86.
8Mr4 TIL the Russian gov’t drilled a ~15km (49,000 ft) borehole into the Earth’s surface but couldn’t continue due to temperatures in excess of 180 °C (356 °F)