› added 3 years ago

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TIL of Japanese General and Poet, Nogi Maresuke, who took Port Arthur twice - from China (1894) and Russian (1904), sought permission from the emperor to kill himself as felt he lost too many soldiers in battle, was refused, so waited eight years and committed suicide right after the emperor died.

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Zmna TIL Google rents goats to replace lawnmowers at their Mountain View headquarters
m1l1P TIL In 1874 Tom Collins was a fake individual used to prank people. The prankster would tell the victim that Collins had slandered them and have the victim pursue the fictional man. Newspapers would go to make fake reports on Collins and music halls had songs about the event.
j0yR TIL The Count of Monte Cristo has never been out of print in most modern languages
b9OPp TIL "Roses are red/Violets are blue" dates back to 1590 with the lines: "In a fresh fountaine, farre from all mens vew//She bath'd her brest, the boyling heat t'allay;// She bath'd with roses red, and violets blew,// And all the sweetest flowres, that in the forrest grew."
9mVm TIL that Emperor Nero competed in the Olympic Games. Nero did terribly and was nearly killed in a chariot race, but was nonetheless declared the winner in every event he competed in.