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TIL about General Butt Naked, a Liberian warlord who used to go into battle naked under heavy drug influence. He would rush enemy lines killing everyone in has path. Then sacrifice children, bathe in their blood, and eat their hearts. He never got shot. He lives now as an evangelical preacher

by whatilearned June 29, 2022, 5:40 pm

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TIL that the British MI5 hired an astrologer after they learned that Hitler supposedly used astrology to influence his actions. However it was later known that the predictions of Hitler’s astrologer were extremely inaccurate and Hitler himself thought of astrology as ‘complete nonsense’.

by whatilearned June 22, 2022, 4:15 am

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TIL that the Grease was originally a play based on the writer’s teen years in Chicago, and the male characters were toughs with Polish surnames. The toughs were made more likeable when the play went to New York and became a musical, and the Polish influence was toned down for the movie.

by whatilearned June 11, 2022, 4:25 pm

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TIL about the “Inventio Fortunata,” a lost book that described the North Pole as a magnetic island surrounded by a giant whirlpool and four continents, believed to be written in the 14th century. Its influence on maps of the Arctic region persisted into the 16th and 17th centuries.

by whatilearned May 5, 2022, 3:05 am

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TIL Bowie’s big early influence, singer & popular actor Anthony Newley, had 12 top 40 hits, was Oscar-nominated for writing the score to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, & wrote the title song of Goldfinger

by whatilearned May 3, 2022, 10:35 am

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TIL that in April of 1861, Former President Franklin Pierce wrote to the other living former presidents and asked them to consider meeting to use their stature and influence to propose a negotiated end to the war. However, this idea was ultimately never acted on.

by whatilearned April 25, 2022, 2:25 pm

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TIL that President Ronald Reagan used his influence so that Dennis Wilson, the late Beach Boys drummer would be allowed to be buried at sea by the Coast Guard.

by whatilearned April 16, 2022, 10:34 pm

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TIL In 1870 President Grant tried to pass a treaty to annex the Dominican Republic. Mainly it would expand American influence and unofficially provide a refuge for southern blacks seeking refuge from persecution. Despite support from the Dominican Republic, the treaty was defeated in the Senate.

by whatilearned March 10, 2022, 12:37 pm

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Russia’s influence over Ukraine. Natural gas corrupts politics. Firtash, Manafort, Hunter Biden. Formerly posted in r/BestOf, Deleted by the original poster.

by CopyPastaArchive February 25, 2022, 5:16 am

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What’s the unit of measure for social influence?

by cringeyjokesman February 19, 2022, 11:06 pm

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TIL about Herodotus’ legend of Sisamnes, in which a corrupt judge allowed a bribe to influence a verdict, only to have the king find out and have him flayed alive. The king had the judge’s skin placed onto the judge’s throne where his son would succeed him.

by whatilearned January 22, 2022, 4:55 am

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TIL in 2010 George Michael crashed into a wall while driving under the influence. The wall remained standing but dented, onto which someone graffitied “Wham!”

by whatilearned January 12, 2022, 4:19 pm

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