TIL (Timeline I Learned)

TIL a man accused during the Salem witch trials refused to enter a plea, preventing him from being tried. In an attempt to elicit one, he was tortured by pressing, a technique by which the victim is slowly crushed. Each time he was asked for a plea, his only response was "more rocks". [Source, Comments]

TIL in 2015, a man tried to claim he invented the chicken sandwich but U.S Courts ruled that the sandwich couldn't be copyrighted. [Source, Comments]

TIL that during their time living underground, Cicadas bodies, and their burrows are coated in anal fluids [Source, Comments]

TIL a team of 3 students won $700K for using AI to decipher the first passages of a 2,000-year-old scroll; 1 of 800 scrolls that were carbonized by the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in 79 CE. Since their discovery in the 1700s, trying to read them proved futile because unrolling them by hand caused damage [Source, Comments]

TIL that "Give us today our daily bread" is a mistranslation. The word translated as "daily" is "epiousion" in the original Greek. Scholars disagree on what exactly this enigmatic word is supposed to mean, but a direct translation would be something like "supersubstantial." [Source, Comments]

TIL that when the Nazis threatened to execute Archbishop of Greece Damaskinos for speaking against the deportations of the Greek Jews he replied: "According to the traditions of the Greek Orthodox Church, our leaders are hanged, not shot. Please respect our traditions." [Source, Comments]

TIL that in 12th grade Steve Wozniak made a fake bomb, laughed at the principal that disarmed it then electrocuted the guards at juvenile detention with 120v electricity. [Source, Comments]

TIL Dr. August Bier, a German physician, pioneered spinal anesthesia using cocaine injections. To test its numbing effects, Bier injected cocaine into his assistant’s spine, beat his legs with hammers, pulled his testicles, drove a needle into his femur, and even ripped out his pubic hair. [Source, Comments]

TIL: Buzz Aldrin although the second man on the moon was the first man to pee while on it. [Source, Comments]

TIL in order to see the new Star Wars trailer the phantom menace, many Star Wars fans bought tickets to the movie meet Joe black only to then walk out of the movie after watching the trailer [Source, Comments]