TIL that during the War of 1812 British officer James Dacre was acquitted by court martial for the loss of his ship after defending himself by noting it had been French-built. [Source]

TIL a New Jersey construction worker tried to keep a $38.5M lottery-pool jackpot, told his boss he was leaving for foot surgery he never had, and filed for unemployment after claiming the prize. A jury rejected his story and awarded each of his five coworkers a $4M share. [Source]

TIL that the American School system is *not* based on a 150 year old agrarian harvest cycle and is almost entirely based upon the fact that all of the Lower 48 get very hot from May-August. Additionally back when America *was* more agrarian, kids *did* go to school in the summer. [Source]

TIL the Attica Prison Riot in New York ended with the highest number of fatalities in the history of United States prison riots. Almost everyone, including 9 out of the 10 hostages, was killed by law enforcement gunfire when the state retook control of the prison [Source]

TIL that Dominique Dunne, actress who played Dana in Poltergeist was strangled by her abusive ex-boyfriend after she ended their relationship. He was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, served only two and a half years, and has been free for decades. [Source]

TIL Jackrabbits can literally panic to death in an evolutionary trait called "capture myopathy." This is because jackrabbits are such fast performing animals that they prioritize immediate survival over long term health. Capture myopathy can lead to poisoning, organ failure, and usually death. [Source]

TIL David Letterman created a college scholarship specifically for average "C students," believing that grades don't always reflect a person's talent or potential. [Source]

TIL that sex, on average, burns 69 calories. [Source]

TIL there was a gladiator fight between a group of five retiarii and an equal number of secutores. The retiarii surrendered without a fight, but when their execution was ordered, one of them picked his weapon back up and slaughtered the secutores. Emperor Caligula was disgusted by the showing. [Source]

TIL basketball, especially American basketball, is extremely popular in China. The NBA is the most popular sports league in the country, beating all domestic leagues. In 2020, there were 482 million fans in China, a viewership higher than the entire population of the United States. [Source]

TIL The oldest known named pet in recorded history was the cat of an ancient Egyptian priest in the 15th century BCE. The cat's name was Nedjem, which means "Sweet one" or "Sweetie". [Source]

TIL electronics produced between 1999 and 2007 had a higher than expected failure rate due to non-solid aluminium electrolytic capacitors [Source]

TIL During the 1990 World Cup, Brazil played Argentina. During a break, Brazilian player Branco was handled a bottle of water by the Argentine physio. Branco felt sleepy and felt he had been spiked with a sedative. Argentina won. 14 years later, Maradonna suggested this was true. [Source]

TIL American actress Lina Basquette was offered a contract in Nazi Germany. According to her she was taken to meet Hitler where he made a pass at her and she responded by kicking him in the groin. When he persisted she told him her maternal grandfather was Jewish. She left Germany the next day. [Source]

TIL that in 2024 soccer actually overtook baseball to become the United States’ third favorite sport [Source]

TIL of the 'Conquest of the Desert' an Argentine war of conquest against the native tribes of the Patagonia. Argentine troops killed more than 1,000 Mapuches, displaced more than 15,000 more from their traditional lands and enslaved a portion of the remaining Indigenous people. [Source]

TIL that there was a Sitka Spruce called "Kiidk'yaas" with a unique mutation that gave it gold needles. It was a holy tree to the Haida people, but it was illegally cut down in 1997 by a disgruntled forest engineer; ironically, this was supposedly an act of protest against the logging industry. [Source]

TIL Paul McCartney played drums on the first two tracks of The White Album ("Back in the USSR" and "Dear Prudence"), because Ringo had temporarily quit the band. [Source]

TIL it was severely taboo for US presidents to leave the country while in office, with Theodore Roosevelt's visit to Panama to inspect progress on the canal in 1906 being the first time a sitting president has left the country. [Source]

TIL that in China you can pay money to go to a fake office and pretend to have a job [Source]

TIL that the city of Yubari, Hokkaido in Japan has experienced a 95% population decline since the 1960s. Once a thriving coal mining town that saw 120,000 people, its current population is near 5,500. [Source]