› added 10 years ago

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TIL that at the end of WWI, Germany had to pay reparations of 132 billion gold marks. The reparations were not fully paid until 2010, marking the official end of the war.

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WjYL TIL: The air in Beijing is so polluted that breathing it does as much damage to the lungs as smoking 40 cigarettes a day.
epZ1g TIL Wisconsin produces over half of all cranberries in the world. 5% is sold fresh: majority is for sauce, juice, dried fruit, etc. Settlers called the fruit “crane berry” cause the blossoms resemble the head of a Sandhill crane. It takes about 4,400 cranberries to make 1 gallon of juice.
kO4k1 TIL in 2006, Katie Melua gave a concert at 303 meters below sea level in one of the legs of the "Troll A" oil rig, earning a Guinness record for "deepest underwater concert"
E1yKX TIL the summit of Mt. Everest has just become another "tourist spot" for the rich and you can go despite having no prior mountain climbing experience
neWPY TIL that the Italian painter Raphael was often accompanied by fifty scholars daily; when Michangelo greeted him one day, he said "You walk surrounded by an entourage like a general," and Raphael responded, "And you, you walk alone like an executioner."