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TIL Duke Kahanamoku was not only a 5-time Olympic medalist in swimming, but also a pioneering surfer who is credited with popularizing surfing around the world. Later in life Kahanamoku was elected to serve as the Sheriff of Honolulu, Hawaii from 1932 to 1961.

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XEj1D TIL the estimated death toll of the Massacre at Huế during the Vietnam War was between 2,800 and 6,000 civilians and prisoners of war, or 5–10% of the total population of Huế. Victims were found bound, tortured, and sometimes buried alive. Many victims were also clubbed to death
Vx54 TIL, when Carl Linnaeus was in Hamburg, the mayor proudly showed him the remains of a seven-headed hydra. Linnaeus found out the remains were fake and made it public. As a result Linnaeus was forced to leave Hamburg immediately, as he crushed the mayor´s dream of selling the hydra for a large sum.
wEwo TIL the NYPD once strip-searched a black man, cuffed him with his hands behind his back, sodomized him with a plunger, then jammed the plunger handle into his mouth. His colon and bladder were severly damaged. The NYPD claimed his injuries were the result of “abnormal homosexual activities”.
6ZW8 TIL candy pumpkins were placed on the seat of every U.S. Senator by the candy industry in 1985 in hopes of extending U.S. daylight saving time to cover Halloween.
9Y69m TIL in the 1980s the Naval Investigative Service misunderstood the euphemism "a friend of Dorothy" and believed there was actually a woman named Dorothy at the center of a massive ring of gay military personnel. They searched for her in the hopes she would reveal names of gay military members.