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TIL In 1969, a group of researchers trained cockroaches to race, built them a transparent case and 'invited' other cockroaches as an audience. Those 'racers' who had their species looking at them were able to race faster than those without.

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XljR TIL of Lauri Törni, a Finnish soldier that after fighting in the winter war against the USSR, he joined the SS and kept fighting until the end WW2. After WW2, he migrated to the US and joined the US Army, and died in combat in Vietnam in 1965 by which time he had earned high ranking U.S. awards.
JYla1 TIL about the Carthusian Martyrs. These men refused to accept Henry VIII as the Supreme Head of the Church in England and were brutally killed because of it. The English authorities under Thomas Cromwell killed and harrassed the Carthusians until they were finally able to loot their monastery.
Bgg8b TIL about Sokushinbutsu, a practice of self-mummification observed by Japanese Buddhist monks. The monks would follow a strict starvation diet until abstaining from eating altogether in order to lose as much body fat and moisture as possible. They would finally be locked in a tomb while still alive.
E16Dd TIL in the early days of drugstore ice cream counters and soda shops, medicine such as cocaine and heroin were added to drinks at the customers discretion. The sweet flavors helped cover up the bitter taste of the medicine.
gr5M8 TIL that Mike Tyson went bankrupt in 2003. Despite having earned $400 million from boxing, examples of reckless spending included $6.3 million on luxury cars and $580K on his 30th birthday party. He has improved his financial situation and now receives $900K/month from his cannabis company, however.