› added 10 months ago

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TIL that wild fans have been a thing at least since the 1800s when composer Lizst had to keep a dog so he can cut its hair to keep up with the demand for his hair locks

780OZ TIL that in 2017, an Ohio Sheriff's office auctioned off an M1921 Thompson submachine gun, that they originally owned. The starting bid was 40k USD, and the Thompson was eventually sold for 90k USD. The Sherriff's office originally purchased the weapon on May 13th 1934.
lWoG TIL that the hoatzin is the last surviving species of a line of birds that diverged from all other birds 64 million years ago, just after the dinosaur extinction event, and that hoatzin chicks have claws on their wings
a8Vo0 TIL that limelight is a type of lighting once used for stages. Intense illumination is created when a flame fed by oxygen and hydrogen is directed at a cylinder of quicklime. Long since replaced by electric lighting, the term has survived; someone in the public eye is said to be "in the limelight."
epRl6 TIL that the Yellowstone Park "Zone of Death" is a legal loophole in a small part of Yellowstone Park. A man was tried for an elk's murder in the Idaho section. The Sixth Amendment guarantees a fair trial by a jury in the area, but no jury can be assembled as nobody lives there, making crimes legal
DPVD TIL that in 1440 a land sale treaty between the Pope and Florence accidentally left out a small strip of land around Cospaia. The people of the area promptly declared their independence and remained sovereign for nearly 400 years.