Submitted by shelovesbackshots t3_11t22hk
/f/todayilearned
TIL about the Forty Elephants or Forty Thieves, an all women crime syndicate in London in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that specialized in shoplifting and pretending to be maids and robbing the wealthy families who hired them.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by Professor_Hillbilly t3_124yp1v
TIL In the West the largest meal of the day has historically been eaten at midday. It was not until Napoleon's empire there was the "abominable habit of dining as late as seven in the evening" as British travelers reported. The British adopted later dinners by 1850 from changes in work schedules.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by jamescookenotthatone t3_127hmlf
TIL: In 1567, Hans Steininger, an Austrian politician known for his long flowing beard said to be seven feet long, died by tripping over his beard. After his death, the townspeople built him a statue and preserved his beard in glass. It is now in the District Museum Herzogsburg.
kingsmenpremium.comSubmitted by Flares117 t3_126a8t9
Submitted by VeryPoliteRaccoon t3_121mud8
TIL the term "death row" comes from an assassination attempt on FDR. The shooter Giuseppe Zangara was sentenced to death, but there was already a convict awaiting execution, and FL law forbade them from sharing cells. A second cell was built, turning the "death cell" into the first "death row."
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by AdmiralAkbar1 t3_11xih6i
TIL After the Aral Sea dried up significantly, Kazakhstan revived the northern part of the lake while the South Aral Sea in Uzbekistan is almost completely desiccated. Kazakhstan’s 12km-long dyke saved part of the northern sea by connecting it with the southern section
bbc.comSubmitted by Ok_Copy5217 t3_11pynzl
TIL: Thanks to poor internal communication at NASA, information about a spacesuit water leak wasn't properly communicated. Later, Astronaut Luca Parmitano almost drowned on a July, 2013 ISS space walk, his helmet filling with several liters of water before they could get him back inside.
abcnews.go.comSubmitted by OvidPerl t3_121eza5
Submitted by sexyson91 t3_122t6pc