› added 4 years ago

84

TIL that in medievel England, eels were used and accepted , to an extent, as currency, mostly in rental agreements. Many rental agreements, where the landlord would stipulate the rent due in "eel currency" were found. 25 eels would be a "stick". 10 sticks a bind.

Read more historiacartarum.org

via reddit.com

madP TIL some skyscrapers have gigantic, 300-800 ton steel balls inside them to prevent high winds from making tenants dizzy.
omvL TIL in 1997 two composers tried to create the world’s most annoying song, featuring (in part) an operatic soprano rapping over cowboy music featuring bagpipes and tuba while children sing about holidays and advertise for Wal-Mart. (MP3 in comments)
8exv8 TIL Lebanon bars non-citizens from becoming engineers, doctors, or lawyers, among more than 70 other prohibited occupations
ne7od TIL of one of the most inaccurately named men in history: Charles Coward. While in German captivity, he traded clothes with a Jewish inmate so he could report to the British on what was happening in Auschwitz, and later testifyed in Nuremberg.
oBOZR TIL of Operation Bloodstone, a CIA project to recruit former Nazis and collaborators to conduct "psychological warfare, subversion, sabotage, [...] assassination, target capture and rescue". Many hired agents were high ranking Nazis, some of which had committed crimes against humanity.