› added 7 months ago

22

TIL that the insurance company Lloyd's of London originally started out as a coffeehouse

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xnyD TIL that in 1835, a man attempted to assassinate the king of France with a hand-made 25-barrel rifle. The discharge killed 18 people and wounded 22. The king was only grazed by a bullet.
9Y0AG TIL cartoonist Otto Eppers was charged with attempted suicide after surviving a jump off of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1910. A judge dismissed the charge commenting “Well, he seems very much alive, doesn't he?”
QJPMd TIL when Reagan was shot, HW Bush as Vice President was advised by his aides to proceed directly to the White House by helicopter as an image of the government still functioning. Bush rejected the idea, responding, "Only the President lands on the South Lawn."
rRZeW TIL Microsoft invested $150M in Apple during its decline in the late 90s, largely to combat anti-trust regulations. It saved Apple, and Microsoft sold off its shares when their deal was over, in 2003. Had they held on, the shares would be worth over $20B today
QJoGX TIL about Nikolai Vavilov who, obsessed with ending famine, created the world's largest collection of plant seeds, advancing the genetic study of cultivated plants. He faced anti-Mendelian forces during the Stalin era, leading to arrest in 1940. Ironically, he died in captivity, by starvation.