3 Comments TIL the dragonnades were instituted by Louis XIV in 1681 to persecute and convert Huguenot families. Ill-disciplined dragoons were billeted in Protestant households with implied permission to abuse them and destroy or steal their possessions. These soldiers were satirized as “missionary dragoons” by whatilearned December 4, 2022, 2:20 am 5 Points Upvote Downvote
1 Comment TIL the King of Portugal sold all the “possessions and dominions” of a small island fort in 1903. The islet, along with its royal prerogative, were later bought by Prince Renato, an Arts teacher, who proclaimed independence from Portugal in 2007. The official dish of the principality is takeaway. by whatilearned August 14, 2022, 7:48 pm 12 Points Upvote Downvote
8 Comments What’s the most shocking thing you found in your spouse’s possessions? by QuestionGuy July 11, 2022, 2:09 pm 12 Points Upvote Downvote
1 Comment til playing cards have historical meaning which started in 1370s in Europe probably in Spain or Italy as imports or possessions of merchants from the Islamic Mamlūk dynasty centred in Egypt. Like their originals, the first European cards were hand-painted, making them luxury goods for the rich. by whatilearned March 24, 2022, 3:15 pm 12 Points Upvote Downvote
2 Comments TIL that in 2009 a man checked into a hotel in Sligo, Ireland, gave a fake name and paid in cash. He then got rid of all his possessions and sadly completed suicide. He had cut out all the tags from his clothes so nobody is even sure what country he was from. The case is still unsolved today. by whatilearned March 9, 2022, 12:34 pm 12 Points Upvote Downvote
6 Comments TIL that after Unabomber Ted Kaczynski was arrested, his possessions were sold at a “reasonably advertised Internet auction” to raise money for his victims by whatilearned January 20, 2022, 3:40 am 12 Points Upvote Downvote
5 Comments TIL of the exercise of ‘death cleaning’ – a Swedish concept where elderly people deliberately clear out and declutter their possessions so that nobody else has to do it once they’re dead by whatilearned November 25, 2021, 8:00 am 12 Points Upvote Downvote
4 Comments TIL after her husband had been killed in fighting near Kiev in 1941, Soviet nurse Mariya Oktyabrskaya sold all of her possessions to fund a T-34 tank. Her one condition was that she be allowed to drive it, which she did until her death in combat in 1944. She was awarded “Hero of the Soviet Union”. by whatilearned November 23, 2021, 6:06 pm 12 Points Upvote Downvote
2 Comments TIL Chris Rock’s great-great-grandfather was named Julius Caesar Tinghman, served in the U.S. Colored Troops during the Civil War. Within just a few months, Julius was promoted to the rank of corporal. Julius had gone from being a slave with no possessions to owning 65.5 acres of land. by whatilearned October 7, 2021, 7:48 pm 12 Points Upvote Downvote
8 Comments [Serious] How should we tell the Husband of a deceased co-worker that she took all her personal possessions home the day she died? by QuestionGuy June 10, 2021, 11:56 am 12 Points Upvote Downvote
5 Comments TIL that one of the most treasured possessions of late Japanese Emperor Hirohito wasn’t made of precious metals, or even from Japan. It was a Mickey Mouse quartz watch. Given to him while visiting the US in 1975, where he insisted on visiting Disney Land. When he died in 1989 he was buried with it. by whatilearned May 23, 2021, 6:57 pm 12 Points Upvote Downvote
10 Comments TIL pirates accepted gay marriage and often had relationships with other male pirates for protection and companionship. Pirates enmeshed in matelotage shared everything from affection and other sexual partners to possessions. by whatilearned April 5, 2021, 12:53 am 12 Points Upvote Downvote
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