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TIL During the Trial of Joan of Arc, the prosecution, headed by Pierre Cauchon, sent an agent to France to collect dirt on her life in her home village. Cauchon was enraged when the agent "had found nothing concerning Joan that he would not have liked to find about his own sister".

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dA1K TIL Billy Joel pursued a music career when he realized he wasn’t going to graduate high school at the end of his senior year. As he recounted, “If I’m not going to Columbia University, I’m going to Columbia Records, and you don’t need a high school diploma over there.” Columbia ended up signing him.
78ZZZ TIL in South Vietnam during the Buddhist crisis, a hugely oversized carp was found in a small pond. It was believed to be a reincarnation of one of Buddha's disciples, and the Catholic government ordered it mined and machine gunned, which it survived. This catapulted the fish's fame to new heights
loJMa TIL Elephants can suffer from PTSD and that their violent outbursts and can sometimes be managed with therapy
LQO80 TIL about Aurel Persu's car design. This car, implemented in 1922-1923, was shaped similar to a waterdrop and it had a drag coefficient of 0.28 (same as a modern Porsche Carrera)
oRkm8 TIL of Agongointo-Zoungoudo. Rediscovered in 1998 in Benin, West Africa - this town of approx 50 bunkers was built 32 feet below ground level in the late 16th Century. King Dakodonou is thought to have commissioned the town to protect his kingdom in the event of an attack.