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TIL Major Henry Rathbone, the man sitting next to Lincoln when he was assassinated in 1865, died in an insane asylum in Germany in 1911 after murdering his wife in front of his kids.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Rathbone
https://redd.it/1gbzqcr
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TIL of Joe Arridy who was a 23-year-old man with an IQ score of 46 and the mind of a six-year-old who was wrongfully convicted and executed in 1939. He did not understand the meaning of the gas chamber, telling the warden "No, no, Joe won't die". He smiled while being taken to the gas chamber.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Arridy
https://redd.it/1gc4zyo
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TIL while filming the 1997 movie "Gummo", Harmony Korine insisted on using regular people and places. Some of the houses were so disgusting that most of the film crew insisted on wearing hazmat suits during filming.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gummo
https://redd.it/1gbyq80
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TIL in Switzerland, dashcam footage is usually not allowed in court unless it helps solve a serious crime. Privacy laws make it hard to use, and traffic violations don't count as serious enough.
https://www.teichmann-law.ch/en/blog/2022/usability-of-private-dashcam-recordings.html
https://redd.it/1gaxmwz
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TIL the number of active four-star Generals (the highest officer rank of the US army) is limited. This is set at 7 Army generals, 2 Marine generals, 8 Air Force generals, 2 Space Force generals, 6 Navy admirals, and 2 Coast Guard admirals.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_(United_States)
https://redd.it/1gawo7m
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TIL that in 2017, “Big Tobacco” companies were finally forced to air ads in the US that admitted their products were deadly and addictive. This came after 11 years of appeals by the companies to delay and weaken the nature of the ads.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna823136
https://redd.it/1gb68fj
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TIL - The famous B-17 crash landing scene in "Tora Tora Tora" wasn't old stock footage. The aircraft used during the filming experienced an actual landing gear failure and the emergency landing was recorded by the film crew. Since no one was injured they decided to use the footage in the movie.
https://aerovintage.com/tora.htm
https://redd.it/1gbawm4
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TIL the Amish have lower cancer rate than the rest of the population
https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2010/01/08/amish-have-low-cancer-rate/23895255007/
https://redd.it/1gb1eua
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TIL Robert Remus AKA Sgt. Slaughter from the WWE never served in the military despite his character's gimmick. He received several Vietnam War draft deferments and even opposed the war, often protesting and demonstrating within the antiwar movement.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgt._Slaughter
https://redd.it/1gal5lf
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TIL about Operation Cottage intended to seize the last enemy stronghold on North American soil from Japanese occupiers in 1943. By the time the island was declared secure, over 300 Allied soldiers lay dead or wounded. There were none Japanese casualties, they abandoned the island 3 weeks prior.
https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Media/News/News-Article-View/Article/577595/operation-cottage-a-cautionary-tale-of-assumption-and-perceptual-bias/
https://redd.it/1ga5xcl
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TIL that the recipe "Engagement chicken" got its name after Kathy Suder and later several of her co-workers received engagement proposals after serving it to their boyfriends.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathy_Suder
https://redd.it/1gak059
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TIL The B-29 bomber program was the most expensive project of WWII, costing roughly ~50% more than the entire Manhattan Project
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_B-29_Superfortress
https://redd.it/1ga95fe
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TIL about the Bannister Effect: When a barrier previously thought to be unachievable is broken, a mental shift happens enabling many others to break past it (named after the man who broke the 4 minute mile)
https://learningleader.com/bannister/
https://redd.it/1gaarvq
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TIL that Samuel "Sam" Houston, the 1st and 3rd President of the Republic of Texas who served as Governor of both Tennessee and Texas, and for whom the city of Houston in Texas is named, was descended from the Houston baronets and Clan Houston in Scotland. He was also a member of the Cherokee Tribe.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Houston
https://redd.it/1g9l9t1
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TIL about the invariant right theory. This is the theory that most people will turn to their right when entering a store. It is theorized that people unconsciously favor turning right because most people are right handed.
https://retailminded.com/the-invariant-right-how-people-move-around-stores/
https://redd.it/1g9l0a7
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TIL that bone china is made from bone ash, feldspathic material and kaolin, and it originated in the UK, not in China.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_china
https://redd.it/1gbt74n
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TIL When Tsarevich Nicholas(later Nicholas II) visited Japan in 1891, an attermpt on his life was made by a man wielding a katana. His cousin, Prince George of Greece, saved his life by parrying the sword with his cane
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Ctsu_incident#Details_of_the_attack
https://redd.it/1gbyj6r
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TIL that when Ford released the Model T in 1908, it cost $825 (adjusted to about $28,000 in 2023). Despite the popularity (about 15 million would eventually be sold) Ford kept dropping the price over the years, and by 1925 the basic model cost $260, the equivalent of about $4,500 today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_T#Price_and_production
https://redd.it/1gbx89c
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TIL a community of escaped slaves in colonial Brazil founded their own confederated kingdom that lasted for almost 90 years, with a population of around 11,000
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmares_(quilombo)
https://redd.it/1gbcfby
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TIL that the world's smallest flower is the Wolffia spp., or the watermeal. The plant is about 1/42" long and 1/85" wide, and weighs about as much as 2 grains of salt. It grows on the surface of freshwater lakes or marshes.
https://www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/botany/item/what-is-the-smallest-flower-in-the-world/
https://redd.it/1gb8h7s
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TIL that in Cowboy Bebop the voice actors for Spike Spiegel (Steve Blum) and Julia (Mary Elizabeth McGlynn) are married in real life.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Elizabeth_McGlynn
https://redd.it/1gb8c87
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TIL they dehorn rhinos in Africa to deter poaching, resulting in a 30% lower chance the rhino will get killed by poachers.
https://www.savetherhino.org/thorny-issues/de-horning/
https://redd.it/1gb7trp
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TIL that during WWII, pilots frequently blacked out during turns as strong G-forces caused blood pooling in their legs. Douglas Bader, a British Ace, did not have this problem because his legs had been amputated after an accident.
https://aviationhumor.net/the-wwii-flying-ace-with-no-legs/
https://redd.it/1gbaw2i
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TIL The Kamikaze attacks during the Battle of Okinawa were so intense Admiral Spruance had to transfer flagships twice. First from USS Indianapolis to USS New Mexico, and then to USS New Jersey.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raymond_A._Spruance#:~:text=For%20most%20of%20the%20war,by%20a%20kamikaze%20off%20Okinawa.
https://redd.it/1ga4gj0
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TIL During the Napoleonic Wars French cavalry developed a technique called Sabrage, which is opening a champagne bottle with a saber. The wielder slides the saber along the body seam of the bottle to the lip to break the top of the neck away.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabrage
https://redd.it/1gaj3k6
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TIL Girls of the Kayan tribe start wearing neck rings at around 5 years old. Over the years, the coil is replaced by a longer one and more turns are added. The rings can stretch their necks to a length of about 15 inches (38 cm).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayan_people_(Myanmar)
https://redd.it/1gaaqg5
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TIL in 1967, the whiskey brand Canadian Club did a "Hide a Case" advertising campaign where they hid 25 cases of their whiskey in exotic locations around the world. There are still 9 cases still hidden with one being above the Artic Circle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Club#:~:text=In%201967%2C%20Hiram,%5B6%5D
https://redd.it/1gae7mr
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TIL that LIFE Magazine once printed a guide on "how to tell Japs from the Chinese"
https://vintagenewsdaily.com/life-magazine-pearl-harbor-issue-how-to-tell-japs-from-the-chinese/
https://redd.it/1g9aifg
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TIL that Hugh Laurie has 10 Emmy nominations and has never won. 5 of the nominations are for 'House, MD'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_awards_and_nominations_received_by_Hugh_Laurie
https://redd.it/1g9ryyi
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TIL Since the late 1950s, aerospace engineers have used the term "unobtainium" when referring to unusual or costly materials, or when theoretically considering a material perfect for their needs in all respects, except that it does not exist.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unobtainium?wprov=sfla1
https://redd.it/1g9p9i9
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