› added 10 years ago

133

TIL around 20 million chinese civilians died in World War II.

Read more m.wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

4kybw TIL that the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883, mandates that most positions within the federal government should be awarded on the basis of merit instead of political patronage
165YX TIL about how the CIA faked a vampire attack in a psy-op campaign against Philippino communist rebels.
1D6V TIL that prisons across America serve certain inmates a one-dish meal called “nutriloaf”, which was specifically designed to be bland, flavorless, and unappealing.
WboA TIL India’s government once released about 25,000 flesh-eating turtles to clean up corpses polluting the Ganges river.
gMAJ7 TIL that Marthe Richard, a French prostitute, was the 13th woman to hold a piloting license, a spy during WW1 and the legatee of Rockefeller Foundation's financial director. After WW2 she started politics. A law named after her outlawed prostitution in France and 1,400 brothels were closed.