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TIL that Mafia capo Gregory Scarpa was recruited by the FBI to find information on the murders of 3 civil rights activists by the KKK using extrajudicial methods. He attained the location of the bodies by pistol whipping a Klansman and putting a gun in his mouth.

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VAMp TIL that the violent crime rate in the US has dropped dramatically in the last few decades, but the majority of Americans think it’s increasing.
EvdW TIL the USSR had a televised song contest. Since few people had phones, viewers would turn their house lights ON if they liked a certain song (OFF if they didn’t). The state energy co. recorded the size of each power spike & reported the results to the station to determine points for each contestant
e0ajL Today I learned that Clem Burke, the original drummer for Blondie, received an honorary doctorate from the University of Gloucestershire for participating in an eight year study which examined the effects of drumming (psychological, physical) and demands on a professional drummer's stamina.
XYXE TIL the American and UK versions of the comic strip Dennis the Menace were both released on the same week in March 1951. Both share the same title, a trouble loving boy in a striped shirt, and a sidekick dog. Neither of the creators of either comic strip knew that the other was being created.
loDka TIL that in 2011, an elderly woman who was searching for copper accidentally sliced through an underground cable which left the whole country of Armenia without internet connection.