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TIL Peine forte et dure was a method of torture formerly used in the common law legal system, in which a defendant who refused to plead guilt or innocence would be subjected to having heavier and heavier stones placed upon their chest until a plea was entered, or they died.

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kOLD4 TIL Anton LaVey's writings (author of "The Satanic Bible") were influenced by Ayn Rand, Friedrich Nietzsche, H. L. Mencken, the members of the carnival with whom LaVey had supposedly worked in his youth, P. T. Barnum, Mark Twain, John Milton, and Lord Byron.
50KQ TIL Bob Ross was a Master Sergent in the US Airforce. He was required to be “mean and tough,” to be “the guy who scream at you for being late to work.” After 20 years he left the military and decided “he would never scream again.” 3 years later he started “The Joy of Painting”
KONX9 TIL that Facebook's primary color is blue because Zuckerberg is red–green colorblind, a realization that occurred after a test undertaken around 2007
mxKNE TIL countries have credit ratings. Obtaining a good sovereign credit rating is usually essential for developing countries that want access to funding in international bond markets.
gMZbL TIL Mark Twain was incredibly well traveled and wrote "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth..."