› added 4 years ago

81

TIL of Vissarion, a Russian mystic and spiritual leader who claims to be a reincarnation of Jesus Christ. His church has over 10000 followers, of which 4000 live together deep in Siberia. Members are forbidden from using money, eating meat, and vices, all done to prepare for an apocalyptic flood.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

VkZ8 TIL Louis Armstrong smoked marijuana during the entire 45 years he blew his trumpet
Anj7 TIL Erwin Rommel as a junior officer in the German Army during World War 1, captured 19,000 Italian soldiers during the Battle of Caporetto over the course of 13 days with less than 150 men under his command. Six German soldiers died under his command in the battle.
R7Xjw TIL Sudden Adult Death Syndrome accounts for +/-500 deaths per year, deaths with no cause found at autopsy.
bjmQ TIL that only 17% of paid clinical trials in the US had their results published in the time required by law. Not publishing all trials allows drug makers to hide unflattering results, and helps medicines look safer and more effective than they really are.
N6MJ TIL When Jimmy Carter was a young Nuclear officer in the US Navy, they sent him to help a partial meltdown in a Canadian nuclear reactor. They built an exact copy of the reactor to train with, then lowered him into the still extremely radioactive reactor to take it apart one piece at a time.