› added 7 years ago

135

TIL four South Korean woodcutters stumbled across the camp of a group of North Korean commandos on a mission to assassinate the South Korean president. The commandos lectured them on the benefits of communism and spared their lives, but their mission failed as the woodcutters had alerted the police.

Read more wikipedia.org

via ift.tt

0oO5 TIL the shoshinsha mark is a green and yellow symbol that new Japanese drivers must place on their cars for a year; conversely, the fukushi mark (orange and yellow) is for elderly drivers. Both marks warn other drivers that the marked driver is not very skilled due to inexperience or old age.
x6APB TIL: North Korea had a covert cargo ship named the Chong Chon Gang, which was a front to conduct illicit activities around the world such as smuggling. It was chased by pirates in 2009, detained by Ukraine and Egypt in 2010, and seized by Panama in 2013. The NK gov paid $700k to release it.
V1M4 TIL the expression “sleep tight” originates from when mattresses were placed on top of ropes that needed regular tightening in the 16th-17th century
ADVRo TIL bananas would not be nearly as available to most of the world if banana-pickers were paid a livable wage.
wL1yP TIL of John II of France, who was captured by the English, in the Hundred Years War, and held hostage in London. An exchange of hostages occurred, with his son, Louis, taking his place. When John II was informed that Louis had escaped from captivity, he voluntarily returned to England as a hostage.