› added 6 years ago

161

TIL that books used to be considered so valuable they often contained curses on people who stole or damaged them

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OGZ7Y Today I learned that there is a Microsoft Excel World Championship where people compete based on their Excel formula skills and it’s (like?) an eSport
ZQbY TIL during the Crusades, at the siege of Acre, the Templar Grandmaster dropped his sword and walked away from the walls, confusing his men. ‘I’m not running away’, he said 'I am dead. Here is the blow’. He raised his arm to show an arrow penetrating his mail under his armpit, mortally wounding him.
ZQdD TIL German General Walther Wenck refused orders to reclaim Berlin from the Russians in 1945 and instead used the remains of his army to create a corridor to for civilians and soldier to flee to the Americans across the Elbe River
Wkvj8 TIL that Theodore Roosevelt drafted a letter during the Spanish-American War requesting that his corps be transferred from Cuba after 4,000 soldiers fell ill. The letter was leaked to an AP reporter, which prompted the McKinley administration to bring the unit home to defuse the bad publicity.
kNv1 TIL the name IKEA is an acronym composed of Ingvar Kamprad (the name of the founder), Elmtaryd (the farm where he grew up), and Agunnaryd (his hometown in southern Sweden)