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TIL serial killer Carroll Cole, responsible for the deaths of at least 15 women, killed his first victim at just 8 years of age, drowning a classmate in a lake. The death was thought to have been an accident until he confessed in an autobiography he wrote in prison.

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MegVB TIL that doctors in the past used to taste the patient's urine to diagnose various diseases. If the urine tasted "wonderfully sweet as if it were imbued with honey or sugar" it was a sure sign of diabetes.
nWjk9 TIL that in 1943, Rosa Parks boarded a bus being driven by James F. Blake when the latter told Parks to disembark and re-enter from the back. When Parks got off the bus, Blake sped off. 12 years later, Parks would famously defy Blake, thereby prompting the Montgomery bus boycott.
ZXVY TIL the reason many U.S army helicopters are named after native-American tribes is because the first U.S air force bases were located on native reserves.
b9wR0 TIL John Corcoran graduated from highschool and college at a reading level of 2nd grade. In spite of this, he taught high school for 17 years and did real estate for 10 years without getting caught. At 48, he received tutoring from a volunteer literacy program, and became a literacy advocate.
m1DZv TIL NYC subway stations have a "zebra board" on the platform that the train conductor needs to visually confirm and point at before opening doors - this ensures the train is stopped at the right place. The protocol originated in Japan, where the additional gesture helps to reduce cognitive errors.