Gustl Mollath - German committed to mental institution after claiming that his ex-wife and bank where she worked were involved in a money laundering scheme (accusations that turned out to be true) ( en.wikipedia.org )
TIL Peter Molyneux failed his first game so badly he started a baked bean export company, which got confused with a software firm and kickstarted his development career ( en.wikipedia.org )
After his first game venture failed, Peter Molyneux started a baked bean export business. Commodore International mistakenly offered him ten free Amiga systems because they confused the baked bean company's name "Taurus" with a software company "Torus", and he used the hardware to create a database system for the Amiga, which...
TIL that African wild dogs have been observed "voting" to decide if the group should go on a hunt. To "vote" for a hunt, the dogs sneeze. ( en.wikipedia.org )
Ed Gein - Man that served as an inspiration for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre film. ( en.wikipedia.org )
Phineas Gage - Wikipedia ( en.wikipedia.org )
TIL when lightning rods were first introduced in the 18th century, people found them so fascinating that wearable lightning rods become fashionable, e.g. a lightning rod in your hat or umbrella. ( en.wikipedia.org )
TIL Bob Barker was an enrolled member of the Sioux Tribe and grew up on a reservation in South Dakota ( en.wikipedia.org )
Crooked Forest - Pine grove that grows in a deformed, curved manner for unexplained reasons ( en.wikipedia.org )
TIL that on pre-colonial Easter Island there existed an undeciphered system of writing or proto-writing, called Rongorongo, which would be one of few independent inventions of writing. ( en.wikipedia.org )
Lucy Letby - British neonatal nurse found guilty of murdering seven babies in her care ( en.wikipedia.org )
Goiânia accident - Hundreds poisoned by radiation after being fascinated by the glowing Caesium they distributed to friends, relatives and neighbors ( en.wikipedia.org )
Lake Nyos disaster - Wikipedia ( en.wikipedia.org )
TIL about the "The Boring Billion", a time period from 1.8 to 0.8 billion years ago characterized by more or less tectonic stability, climatic stasis, and stalled biological evolution. ( en.wikipedia.org )
Klaus Barbie - Unrelated to the recent movie. "Butcher of Lyon", Nazi officer, worked for US army after WWII, they helped him escape to Bolivia, where he worked for local dictators for 30 years. ( en.wikipedia.org )
TIL that Singapore is the only country in the world that gained independence against its will. It was expelled from Malaysia in 1965, after a 126-0 vote in the Malaysian parliament. ( en.wikipedia.org )
Fritzl case - Josef Fritzl held his daughter captive in their basement for 24 years, raped her which resulted the birth of 7 children. They were found in 2008, Amstetten, Austria ( en.wikipedia.org )
There are other unbelievable parts of the story:...
TIL that in 2010 the stock market experienced a flash crash, caused by automatic trading. Over a trillion dollars were lost and mostly regained, all in 36 minutes. Exact causes remain disputed. ( en.wikipedia.org )
TIL about Eugene Debs, a 1920 Socialist candidate who ran for President while jailed in Federal prison for sedition, receiving 3.4% of the vote at the time. He promised to pardon himself if elected. ( en.wikipedia.org )
Eugene Debs, a Socialist leader in the early 20th century, ran for President five times. His fifth and highest vote count came in the 1920 Presidential election, in which he was running while in Federal prison for sedition. He received about 3.4% of the vote at the time (which included women for the first time since the...
Harold Shipman - English general practitioner found guilty of murdering fifteen patients under his care ( en.wikipedia.org )
Lithopedion - Wikipedia ( en.wikipedia.org )
Fremont Troll - An 18-ft. tall troll made of concrete that sits underneath the George Washington Memorial Bridge in Seattle ( en.wikipedia.org )
Chris Benoit - Former wrestling champion known as the "Rabid Wolverine" who tragically murdered his wife and son before taking his own life ( en.wikipedia.org )
Song of Songs - Section in the Bible containing extensive and candid sexual content ( en.wikipedia.org )
Setagaya family murder - Unsolved murder of Japanese family whose assailant remained in the family's house for several hours to eat ice cream and use the potty before disappearing ( en.wikipedia.org )
TIL Kowloon Walled City existed and is the real world origin for many visual representations of oppressive urbanization in cyberpunk media ( en.wikipedia.org )
I came across a video on Youtube discussing it (there are several), and Kowloon Walled City is just endlessly fascinating. A few notable videos I found on the subject were:...
