› added 2 years ago

64

TIL of US Secret Service special agent Jerry Parr, who helped save the life of Ronald Reagan after an assassination attempt. As a boy, Parr saw Reagan portray a Secret Service agent in 1939's "Code of the Secret Service" and was inspired to become an agent himself.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

9YMdm TIL that when actor, Sir Christopher Lee, was just a teenager, he witnessed the guillotine execution of serial killer, Eugen Weidmann
NmR6 TIL Romans kept track of the years by naming them after the two consuls that year (e.g. the consulship of Vinicius and Haterius) When Julius Caesar essentially ruled alone during his “co-consulship” with Bibulus, Romans joked by referring to that year as the consulship of Julius and Caesar.
v1ybx TIL that when you splash water on your face, your body instantly begins to prepare your body for free diving, slowing your heart rate and pulling blood into vital organs in what scientist call “the master switch of life”
rQ40 TIL that in 1312, a few Cockchafer Beetles, which were a major pest for crop farmers, were brought into a courtroom in Avignon and ordered to withdraw to designated territory. When the beetles (obviously) didn’t comply, they were collected and killed.
wLdRM TIL of the word kleptocracy, which is a government with corrupt leaders that use their power and position to advance their own personal wealth.