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TIL of Lauren Stratford (Wilson) who wrote a book claiming that she was in a Satanic cult in which she sacrificed her own child. After magazine reporters exposed her as never having a child, she changed her name and claimed to be a holocaust survivor, and was exposed again by the same magazine.

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N7kYE TIL of the Köhler Effect: when one less-capable person works harder to match more-capable people in the same task. Köhler Effect is strongest when a less-able man is paired with a more-capable woman, (thought to be because it's more embarrassing to men to be outperformed by a woman than a man).
eG4g TIL that in the 16th century, prestigious mathematics professorships could be “won” by defeating the current professor in a public algebra competition
awroA TIL - Prior to 1879 solid chocolate was gritty and not popular until Rodolphe Lindt mistakenly left a mixer containing chocolate running overnight.
KOGga TIL In 1978, a man was sentenced to life in prison for forging an $88 check because he refused to accept a plea deal and had previously been convicted of two felonies. The Supreme Court upheld the decision.
J1jWk TIL after English King James II converted to Catholicism he was forced into exile in 1688 and his descendants were barred from royal succession. Today there is an art historian in Germany who would be King of England (instead of King Charles III) if James had stayed in the Church of England.