› added 6 years ago

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TIL that the Holy Roman state of Hesse-Kessel became a "mercenary state" renting out its army to other major powers. The state maintained strict neutrality, to the point that it would rent out soldiers to both sides of a conflict and the Hessian soldiers would end up fighting each other.

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PYA6w TIL Scurvy used to be the scourge of the navy, killing sailors on long voyages. Now it's a blight to evolutionary biologists. They just don't know why it exists in humans. It's only in the primates - gorillas, chimps, humans, and a few monkeys - that the body stops producing this necessary vitamin.
8ae1K TIL There's a restaurant in Hong Kong that makes noodles by bouncing on bamboo like a seesaw
LkbbP TIL that Australia once cancelled a boat race because the river has water.
GY4XG TIL Kenny Rogers Roasters, a now defunct restaurant brand in the US has 156 locations in the throughout Asia
VMJvZ TIL the Vietnam War is the only war in American history in which US war dogs were not allowed to officially return home after the war. Classified as expendable equipment, around 3500 dogs who were not killed in action were either euthanised or left behind.