› added 8 years ago

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TIL: There’s a statue in Glasgow called the “Duke of Wellington” with a traffic cone on its head since 1980. The city removed it several times but a new one would appear in the night so they gave up and it now a permanent icon of the city.

PY4gE TIL no Canadian owns the physical land they purchase, only an interest in the estate according to law (The Canada Act of 1982). The Canadian monarch owns 100% of Canada's land.
1pEP TIL the the “pink ribbon” associated with Susan G. Komen etc. was ripped off from a “peach ribbon”, created by grassroots breast cancer activist Charlotte Haley. She refused to let her design be commercialized by Self Magazine—who consulted their lawyers and were told to “just change the color”
vPYJK TIL that Ethan Allen's Green Mountain Boys, famous for the Capture of Fort Ticonderoga, was established to resist New York's attempts to reclaim their land. Allen and his settlers purchased NY-controlled land from New Hampshire. NY branded the settlers outlaws, who then trained to fight back.
kDed TIL in 1986 a Soviet sub sank under odd conditions, when they revisited the wreck the missile hatches were forced open, and 2 warheads were reported missing.
gMlN7 TIL "fox tossing" was a favorite pastime of 18th century aristocrats. A couple would stand apart, with a length of cloth between them, and wait for a fox to be herded between them. At the right moment, they would pull the cloth tight, hurling the fox skyward. Whoever sent the fox highest, won.