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TIL that in 18th century England, people would pay to attend Bedlam, a private lunatic asylum, to watch the mentally ill as entertainment

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aWeZ TIL in 1993 James Scott from Missouri purposely damaged a levee on the Mississippi river to delay his wife coming home from work so he could party. Instead the river flooded 14,000 acres. He was later arrested and convicted of causing a catastrophe and sentenced to life in prison.
v1JZR TIL Kodhini, a tiny village in India's southern state of Kerala, has a surprisingly high twins birth rate — 42 of every 1000 births, almost six times as high as the global average of around 6 per 1000 births. No genetic or environmental factor has been ascertained to this phenomenon yet.
e0BXg TIL 3 men escaped from Alcatraz by digging holes in their cells using spoons, accessing an unguarded utility corridor. They climbed onto the roof, down a 50' drainpipe and over two 12' security fences before inflating a makeshift raft and swimming across the Bay. Their bodies have never been found.
QNDOd TIL Taliban leader Mullah Omar lived close to US bases when he was one of the most wanted men in the world
R7mWa TIL That the phrase "Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater" originates because in medieval ages, people shared scarce bathwater and by the time the baby was bathed, the water was so murky that the baby was in danger of being thrown out unseen