/f/todayilearned
TIL: Marquis De Sade, was a famous French writer, politician and playwright known for his libertine ideas on sexuality. He was so deviant, he was in and out of jail for 32 years of his life. He wrote immoral erotica and advocated for free state funded brothels claiming it would reduce crime.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by Flares117 t3_101d1mw
TIL in 1990, Coca-Cola ran a promotion in which some cans had prizes inside instead of Coca-Cola. To make the cans feel like normal cans, they also contained chlorinated water with a foul-smelling substance added to discourage drinking. The promotion ended after 3 weeks due to negative publicity.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by adescuentechable t3_1011zle
TIL: Horse flies have razer sharp stabbing organs with two pairs of cutting blades and a spongelike part to lap up the blood of its victim, unlike the mosquito wich will release a mild anaesthetic to its host, the female Horse fly bite will sting and continue feeding until it is full or dead.
countryliving.comSubmitted by numbarm72 t3_100zq9n
TIL that Robert Oppenheimer's Interim Committee advised the American government not to warn Hiroshima's civilians of the impending atomic bomb. He was nervous that the bomb may not detonate properly, and also felt that a lack of warning would create a greater panic among Japanese leadership.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by IanMazgelis t3_100ap48
Submitted by Ramachandrann t3_zzzrnh
TIL that when Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation, journalist Giovanna Chirri was the first to break the news as she was the only one to understand Latin. She recalls: "He said it in Latin and I was panicking. I was short of breath, my legs were trembling, it was a reaction to shock."
catholicnewsagency.comSubmitted by lechattueur t3_zzs900
TIL two gifted college students considered themselves so superior they planned “the perfect murder” to prove their intellectual abilities. After murdering a child, despite their purported genius, they left plenty of evidence and were swiftly caught and brought to judgment.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by EdLoweLaw t3_zzdic3
TIL that after WW1, Americans dubbed sauerkraut “Liberty Lettuce” as a dig at German culture & Germans in general. In addition, the United States also banned German from being taught in schools, bars & saloons stopped selling pretzels, Dachshunds became “Liberty Pups, & German composers were banned.
tastingtable.comSubmitted by hobowhite t3_zylwdq
TIL the song 'Yankee Doodle' was used by British soldiers before the Revolutionary War to mock American soldiers, stereotyping them as rural simpletons who would think putting a feather in their caps would make them 'Macaroni' (i.e. cool), but was later used by Americans as an anthem of defiance.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by davetowers646 t3_zy5qh6
TIL Jacobo Pazzi was hanged next to a rotting corpse, then was buried, dug up and thrown in a ditch, then dragged through the streets, propped at the door of his palace with his head used as a doorknob, thrown in a river, fished out by children, hanged again, flogged and thrown back in the river
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by Ainsley-Sorsby t3_zy4xko
TIL that King Tut's tomb was unusually small, likely due to his successor taking Tut's intended tomb for his own burial. King Tut's small tomb allowed it to be forgotten and spared from robberies, which led to him becoming famous in the modern era.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by No_Comparison2778 t3_zxpq1y
Submitted by avarensis t3_zxlzek