› added 1 month ago

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TIL that Robert Fulton, developer of the first commercially successful steamboat, was involved in multiple polyamorous relationships. One lover, Joel Barlow, wrote him letters in baby talk threatening to cut off his penis. Fulton asked his wife to join a foursome with the Barlows, but she declined.

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via reddit.com

OGYrL TIL that in 2018 Dennis Hof, owner of the Bunny Ranch brothel, was elected to the Nevada state legislature by a margin of 68.3% to 31.7%, despite having died three weeks earlier.
9wp7p TIL Archimedes is recorded to have died in a math related killing. The most common story is that he was too busy solving a math problem to follow orders from Roman soldiers and was killed, or that he was found with scientific instruments that were mistaken as valuables and killed for them.
1aRQ7 TIL researchers discovered bacteria that naturally evolved to eat away at polyethylene terephthalate, the plastic known as PET or polyester. While studying the structure of an enzyme found in that bacteria, they accidentally created a “mutant enzyme” that can break down plastic within a few days
XlWP TIL: That Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that the end times started on October 1, 1914 and that Satan is controlling the world’s governments
VBBwk TIL an orange tabby cat called Stubbs was the mayor of Talkeetna, a small town in Alaska for 20 years! He had several uncontested elections and although he didn’t hold any legislative power, he was loved by locals and tourists alike.