TIL that after the Portuguese dictator Salazar went into coma, he was dismissed as Prime Minister. When he emerged from it and recovered lucidity, no one wanted to tell him he had been removed from power, instead he was allowed to "rule" in privacy until his death 2 years later https://ift.tt/NoxO7k1

TIL of Elizabeth Jennings Graham, an African-American woman who, in 1854, successfully sued NYC's Third Avenue Railway for denying her a seat on horsecar helping to lead to the desegregation of the city’s public transportation https://ift.tt/rbXReNA

TIL that cats have about 130,000 hairs per square inch of their body. For comparison, an entire human head has about 100,000 total hairs. https://ift.tt/F1qRJGS

TIL That chronologically, humanity is closer in time to the T-Rex (68-66 mya), than the T-Rex was to the Stegosaurus (155-145 mya). https://ift.tt/vij4nVQ

TIL that the earliest known reference to French toast dates back to first century CE in a Latin collection of recipes. https://ift.tt/GC7oN0v

TIL the opposite of Stockholm Syndrome is Lima Syndrome, named after Hostage Takers In Lima, Peru released over 500 of their hostages. https://ift.tt/uXlcZQM

TIL that the Portuguese entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 was one of the two secret signals which alerted the rebel captains and soldiers to begin the Carnation Revolution https://ift.tt/5xrBknu

TIL that exposure to UV light increases sex drive https://ift.tt/qUSZinR

TIL that the English town Pendle Hill derives its name from the old Cumbric word 'pen' (meaning 'hill') and the Old English word 'hyll' (meaning 'hill'). A literal translation of the name could read 'Hill-hill Hill.' https://ift.tt/LAaNKv1

TIL after being wrongfully convicted and suffering through the longest period of solitary confinement in American prison history, Alfred Woodfox's conviction was overturned, and he wrote a memoir entitled Solitary: Unbroken by Four Decades in Solitary Confinement. My Story of Transformation and Hope https://ift.tt/9FSsbRv

TIL about the hijacking of the 1948 seaplane 'Miss Macao'. The lead hijacker, who aimed to rob the wealthy passengers on the plane was unsuccessful, causing the plane to crash, killing everyone on board but the hijacker. The hijacker survived by jumping out of the emergency exit right before impact. https://ift.tt/USHIPe5

TIL that Ranch dressing was invented in Alaska, by a plumber trying to keep his employees satisfied with his cooking https://ift.tt/0UCsrkJ

TIL a man named Thomas Thompson once mistook a dead sailor from the SS James Carruthers as his son, organized a funeral, and then yelled at his son for showing up alive at his own wake. https://ift.tt/kaNqW9z

TIL Bernard Herrmann, composer for films like Psycho, Vertigo, Citizen Kane was asked by unknown director Martin Scorsese to compose Taxi Driver. After completing it, Scorsese asked for one final section. Hermann agreed, brought an orchestra in, completed it, and died hours later. https://ift.tt/XJuIdmS

TIL Shel Silverstein wrote the song "A Boy Named Sue." Johnny Cash's version is a cover. https://ift.tt/lrI0c8H

TIL We could kill all mosquitoes with little to no effect Ecology: A world without mosquitoes https://ift.tt/q3mQcNa

TIL there's a type of broccoli called Romanesco that naturally grows in a fractal pattern https://ift.tt/6sVU1nw

TIL that Sirhan Sirhan, convicted assassin of Robert Kennedy, was granted parole last year and almost got out but Governor Newsom blocked his release in January 2022. https://ift.tt/ZCMPKnw

TIL during the rise of Japan as a major economic power, seen as an economic threat to the US, anti-Japanese sentiment was so high that a Chinese American was beaten to death before his wedding on the assumption that he was Japanese. In 1987, US congressmen smashed Toshiba products on Capitol Hill https://ift.tt/ch5EQmC

TIL landlords in Glasgow, Scotland tried to increase rent by 25% on women whose husbands were fighting in World War 1. The women organised a rent strike and stopped bailiffs entering their buildings by throwing flour bombs at them and pulling down their trousers. https://ift.tt/GNmA9qL

TIL the set for the 1989 movie "The Abyss" was constructed inside an abandoned nuclear power plant, modified to hold water. When filming wrapped, the set was just left there rather than deconstructed. It remained there until 2007 when it was finally demolished. https://ift.tt/O8mpfsu