› added 10 years ago

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TIL in 1994 a passenger was killed by a bomb on a Philippine Airlines flight. This led Philippine police to discover a plot to blow up 11 airplanes in 48 hours over the Pacific, and another plot, which they shared with the FBI in 1995, to fly airplanes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

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Z6yQ TIL in 1980 A single dropped ratchet in an Air Force missile silo resulted in an ruptured tank that led to an explosion that destroyed the silo and shot a nuclear warhead 100 feet from the complex entry gate. They then just filled in the giant hole.
1aJwW TIL in 1856, 18 year old William Perkin accidentally discovered the colour mauve while attempting to synthesize a cure for malaria, upon which he abandoned his previous project and proceeded to revolutionize the synthetic dye industry.
R7p88 TIL Black Bears are killed for their skins to make Marge Simpson type hats for the Queen's Guards. In 2015, they purchased 122 hats for £1,224 each. There have been calls by animal rights groups to phase out this practice.
5Y479 TIL a zoo in Hokkaido sells lion-ripped jeans, beaver-gnawed coasters and other animal inspired products to stay open amid the COVID pandemic.
1aQD4 TIL that professional cyclists pee while cycling to save time, but are fined if it is in front of spectators or cameras.