› added 11 years ago

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TIL That each submarine in the British Royal Navy contains in it a letter only meant to be opened in the event of a nuclear strike on English soil and what to do in said event.

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via reddit.com

XEKBR TIL After an Australian radio host used his influence to demand advertisements be shown on the Sydney Opera House, a comedy group projected "Advertise Here" on the landmark followed by the radio host's home phone number, causing him to apologize on air after he was flooded with calls
wnRY TIL that Steven Russell escaped from prison by using laxatives to fake the symptoms of AIDS. He then called the prison, posing as a doctor, asking for prisoners interested in an experimental treatment, and volunteered. Once out of Texas, he sent death certificates to the prison stating he had died
Gw11 TIL Women can fly airplanes in Saudi Arabia, but can’t drive cars.
9Y9mX TIL in 1928, the founder of Juilliard overheard an audition of someone improvising on a Rachmaninoff classic. Appalled, he went to confront the blasphemer, but found an 8yo Black girl (Hazel Scott), whose hands were too small to hit all the right keys. She was deemed a prodigy & accepted immediately
9dNB TIL Yahoo gave the Chinese government access to the e-mail of two pro-democracy journalists who were subsequently imprisoned for 10 years for “incitement to subvert state power”.