› added 4 years ago

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TIL of Eric Erickson, a Swedish businessman who pretended to be devoted to the Nazis, but was really a spy for the American military. He made more than 30 trips to Germany between 1939-1945. He mapped out oil refineries that were later bombed. His family had disowned him for “supporting” Hitler.

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neV1Y TIL of Waleed Khan, a 16 year old boy from Pakistan who survived being shot five times in the face at the age of 12 when 6 Taliban Militants attacked his school, killing 149 people including 132 school children.
oBYar TIL that J.J. Thomson won the Nobel in Physics in 1906 when he showed electrons were particles. His son G. P. Thomson won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1937 for showing that electrons are waves.
AD6vn TIL In 1608, English writer Thomas Coryat wrote a book detailing his five months’ travel through Europe in which he described, among other things, use of the table fork as an eating utensil. He also introduced “umbrella” into English after noticing Italians shielding themselves from the sun.
mxBAP TIL NPR radio host Ira Glass, who has done the show "This American Life" since 1996, received a raise from $170,000 to $278,000 in 2013. Glass said this raise was "unseemly" and asked it to be lowered to $146,000.
8XrV TIL The sign “Your meal is free if you don’t get a receipt. Please see a manager” is intended to prevent employees from stealing.