› added 12 years ago

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TIL that the UK government is trying to pass a bill that requires all 18-26 year olds to undergo a year of national service

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xdlg TIL Airedale Terriers carried messages for soldiers during WWI and were very dedicated in their duties. One named ‘Jack’ ran through half a mile of enemy fire. He made it to headquarters with his jaw broken and one leg badly splintered and died just after delivering his message
WkPBd TIL a Belgian businessman was instrumental to the Manhattan Project's success. Realizing uranium's importance, he shipped 1,200 tons of it to Staten Island. When Lieutenant Colonel Nichols contacted him, he simply responded: "You can have the ore now. It is in New York. I was waiting for your visit"
e096k TIL that the fat levels of Kobe beef might sound unhealthy, but it's actually the opposite. Kobe beef is filled with unsaturated fats, which have been shown to lower cholesterol levels.
Brg7r TIL that at the funeral of General Lamarque, which plays a central role in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables and was the catalyst of the unsuccessful 1832 June Rebellion, the Marquis de Lafayette was actually a pallbearer and even tried to talk the crowd down before it got out of hand.
ADpv7 TIL that in the earliest surviving depiction of Jesus and the Crucifixion, Jesus is shown as a donkey. The image is a Roman graffito scratched on a wall in Rome somewhere in the 2nd century, apparently to mock Christians.