› added 6 years ago

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TIL the U.S. government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition in the 20s and 30s, killing over 10,000 people.

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jNlZp TIL Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard was placed in command of of a Navy Ship during WW2. He wound up being engaged in combat with absolutely nothing for 68 hours and accidentally conducted live fire exercises on a Mexican Island, which led to him being fired.
nW8DW TIL that Shaquille O’Neal once put $70,000 on a credit card at Walmart and it was declined. American express suspected it was a fraudulent charge
9v87 TIL that a monk had once written over a book that contained information about calculus in ancient Greece that could have made us 100 or even 1000 years more mathematically and technologically advanced.
wLKBW TIL that abolitionist martyrJohn Brown was “cheerful” awaiting execution. Brown, a devout Christian recognizing the power of martyrdom, was “fully persuaded that I am worth inconceivably more to hang than any other purpose.” Emerson: “If he shall suffer. the gallows will be glorious like the cross.”
E1JRo TIL that there were two witchcraft trials in Plymouth Colony 50 years before the Salem Trials. Unlike the later, more infamous trials, the accused were found Not Guilty and their accusers were fined for giving false statements