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TIL that all London taxi drivers must take the Knowledge of London test. This involves memorizing nearly every street within a six-mile radius of central London. It also includes learning the blue book which lists 320 routes that must be memorized from start to finish. It takes up to 3 years to do.

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pXMZ TIL during the Napoleanic War a French vessel wrecked off the coast of Hartlepool killing all the crew except for one monkey dressed in a military uniform. The people of Hartlepool having never seen a Frenchman or a monkey before held an impromptu trial for the monkey and sentenced it to death.
x6eK1 TIL that during the Edo period in Japan Catholicism was outlawed and groups of Japanese catholics had secret rooms in their houses and they made statues of the Virgin Mary and other saints that would look like Buddhist statues
mxGjM TIL at a time when the typical burger was 35 cents, McDonald's sold them for for 15 cents each, thanks to having a more efficient and low-cost sales model for their food. This led to increased sales and allowed for expansion of the chain.
RXe4 TIL of Susan Warren, a woman from Cleveland, was arrested because she broke into random houses, cleaned them and left a bill for her services with her contact info for payment.
QwAe TIL casu marzu, a Sardinian cheese, contains live maggots which can jump up to six inches. Squeamish consumers sometimes put the cheese in a sealed bag. Starved for oxygen, the maggots jump around creating “pitter-patter” sounds; once the sounds stop, the maggots are dead and the cheese is eaten.