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TIL: Arlington Memorial Bridge in Washington, DC, used to be a drawbridge. It hasn't opened since the 60s. Attached to the bridge legs are the operator's office and control room --still present but long-abandoned and sealed shut in 1976.

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rRr1M TIL that Sheila Chandra who sings Braith of Life (a.k.a The Grace of Valar) from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers suffered from the burning mouth syndrome (BMS) starting 2010 and has been since been rendered effectively mute.
BraOr TIL a man from Mali stole $242million from a bank in Dubai by promising to double it using genies and black magic. Then spent it on a Miami shopping spree.
E750 TIL Switzerland sent 31 soldiers to Afghanistan in 2003, its first military deployment since 1815.
loEO7 TIL The surviving heir to China's imperial dynasty worked in Beijing, had no regrets, and thought his own simple life immeasurably superior to those of his ancestors. "I don't envy them at all. My guess is that even if they lived in palaces, they must have spent every waking moment worrying."
D1PgP TIL that in 1875 a swarm of 12.5 trillion locusts covering 198,000 square miles and weighing 27.5 million tons descended upon the Great Plains, devouring all plant life in their path. Farmers that tied to shoo them away had the clothes eaten right off their bodies.