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TIL during The Great Purge, citizens couldn't sleep at night because they were terrified of a knock on the door, meaning they would be arrested and sent to a labor camp. Even Stalin's own mother fainted after she heard a knock on the door, although Stalin had only sent bodyguards to protect her.

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N71A8 TIL Burt Reynolds took revenge from National Enquirer who wrote crap about him for years by dumping a helicopter full of horse shit on their Florida HQ
JlmQ TIL an area of Canada nearly twice the size of Texas was almost renamed “Bob” after politicians in the Northwest Territories asked residents to propose a new name. The campaign to name the territory Bob began as a prank, but thousands supported it. Politicians and Aboriginal leaders were not amused
vMWx TIL 40,000 people in Iran rely on a 45km long “qanat” (underground aqueduct) built nearly 3000 years ago
Emk0 TIL that police officer isn’t in the top ten most dangerous jobs in America and is barely #15
e08Xn TIL in the 1960's the US Air Force forced live black bears to ride rocket sleds and ejected them from jet planes at Mach 2 speeds