TIL in 16th century France, a lawyer successfully defended a group of rats in a court of law, which accused them of eating the barley-crop of local farmers. The court put up posters in nearby towns summoning the rats to court and asked the townspeople to move their cats indoors for their safety .
TIL in the US being clean shaven became popular after troops returned as heroes from WWI–they had been required to shave so gas masks would securely fit.
TIL In 1976 Jodie Foster starred in 5 feature films (including Taxi Driver, Bugsy Malone & Freaky Friday), winning 2 Baftas, an Oscar nomination, and countless other awards. She was 13 years old.
TIL Peoria, Illinois was a test market for new shows in the early 20th century, due to their broad demographic. This gave rise to the phrase "Will it play in Peoria?"
TIL Hitler never visited a single concentration camp, nor did he ever talk about the killings taking place.
TIL of the Russian “Firehose of Propaganda” Model: Overwhelm your enemy with lies from multiple sources, so people will see the lies first, thus winning the first impression. Multiple sources reinforce the same lies, all before real journalists can even find the facts.
TIL there was supposed to be a Pinocchio film to be released in 1936, predating Disney’s Pinocchio by four years. It was meant to be the first Italian animated film, but for unknown reasons the film was never completed and it is considered lost
TIL Charlie Sheen's HIV+ status disclosure lead to a 95% increase in the use of over-the-counter HIV testing kits.