› added 3 months ago

6

TIL that György Dózsa, leader of a Hungarian peasant revolt, was tortured to death on a burning iron throne in 1514.

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nW1xY TIL that American football resulted in enough fatalities and serious injuries by the early 20th century that it was almost banned. Through the combined efforts of several universities, the sport was reformed and saved and the predecessor of the NCAA was formed.
9YJxp TIL The British inventor of the quicksort algorithm, Sir Tony Hoare, also created the null reference and called it his "billion-dollar mistake ... has led to innumerable errors, vulnerabilities, and system crashes ... probably caused a billion dollars of pain and damage in the last forty years".
v1EOj TIL that the name of the Royal Navy ship HMS Petard means "HMS Fart". A petard is a small bomb that derives its name from middle French for “to break wind.” Pun-loving Shakespeare probably knew this when he wrote “hoist with his own petard” - or to be blasted with his own fart
QJKx9 TIL That beer was considered a soft drink in Russia until 2011
Wla8 TIL: In WWII, coconut water was temporarily used as IV fluid when saline was in short supply.