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TIL that sometimes skinned ginger root is inserted in the anus as part of a caning punishment. The subject must choose between bracing for the strike (increased burning sensation) or relaxing the buttocks (taking the full force of the blow).

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a8O6o TIL in L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz series. In the Patchwork Girl of Oz, there is a race of plant people who harvest meat and eat it.
b9Ox7 TIL about the Banana Massacre of 1928, where the US threatened Colombia with military invasion if it didn't end the ongoing Chiquita workers' strike. The Colombian army fired on unarmed protesters, men, women, and children, killing somewhere between 800 and 3,000.
yVO6e TIL cats were a common wedding gift among Vikings due to their association with the goddess of luck, Freyja. Men favored women who loved cats, believing that it increased the likelihood of a happy marriage.
O4pR TIL Sarah M. Pratt, wife of Orson Pratt who was an original apostle in the Mormon Church, claimed that Joseph Smith’s polygamous marriages never produced offspring because Smith had his doctor, John. C Bennett, practice abortion “on a large scale” during their time in Nauvoo, Illinois.
4XWWR TIL-In the 1960s-1970s a study was done to compare the development of twins and triplets separated at birth. The study is often called unethical because the researchers didn't obtain the consent of anybody involved with the children. The records from the study are sealed at yale until 2065.