› added 4 years ago

85

TIL about Mazzatello - 18th century Papal States preferred method of capital punishment... involves a mallet..

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5YdDn TIL Augustus was never formally declared emperor. He simply ran for election in every branch of government between 32BC-13BC, winning every election. He was simultaneously Consul, Proconsul, Senator, High Priest, Tribune, etc...
XJ6k TIL that in Clifton, New Jersey there is an old sewage tunnel system know to locals as The Gates of Hell. Urban legend has it that the drains go on for hundreds of feet underground, layered seven times just like the circles of hell.
OG701 TIL about Pocho, a crocodile in Costa Rica who, after being found nearly dead from a gunshot, was nursed back to health by local fisherman Gilberto "Chito" Shedden. They developed an extraordinary friendship, swimming and performing together for two decades until Pocho's death in 2011.
d8EJ9 TIL that several of the peoples of the eastern New Guinea Highlands have developed an "avoidance language", used when collecting pandanus nuts in order to not use words that are thought of as being "unhealthy" for the plants.
KOvgE TIL pedestrianism was the biggest sport in America before the rise of modern spectator sports