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TIL that after the disaster of ‘The Coconut Grove’ fire in 1942, where in a mad panic to escape the fire people were crushed against the inward opening doors and could not pull them open, all public buildings had to have doors which opened outward

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49mR TIL That between 1965 and 1972, the CIA oversaw a torture program that killed between 26,000 and 41,000 people, which used tactics such as gang rape, electrocution, and even rape using a live eel. Most prisoners did not survive.
gMa6L TIL that HG Wells was basically a huge nerd. He invented a tabletop wargame, like Warhammer, and once complained that a game was ruined by the "chattering of lady visitors."
nerQb TIL after being shot and stabbed multiple times during his assassination, Alexei Nikolaevich, the heir to the Russian Empire throne, survived until the assassins found precious gems in between his shirt and tunic protecting him.
N7ym1 TIL In 2013 Subway was sued for selling 11-inch Footlongs. In the settlement they agreed to pay $525,000 in attorney fees and required their restaurants to now measure bread, so that Footlong and 6-inch sandwiches will indeed be at least 12 inches and 6 inches, respectively.
WaR9 TIL of “Reichstag fire”, a term used to denote a calamitous event staged by a political movement, orchestrated in a way that casts blame on their opponents, causing the opponents to be viewed with suspicion by the public. The Reichstag fire was seen as pivotal in the establishment of Nazi Germany.