› added 7 years ago

165

TIL that Oliver North solicited $10,000,000 from the Sultan of Brunei as a way around US rules on funding Contras in Nicaragua. The money never went to them, but to a Swiss businessman instead because North entered the wrong bank account number.

Read more nytimes.com

via reddit.com

xdZ1 TIL that American and French Revolutionary Marquis de Lafayette was posthumously made an honorary citizen of the United States despite the fact that he was already an American Citizen.
QpvX TIL Psychopaths tend to have a poor sense of smell
MaXW TIL Fighters who lose by knockout are automatically suspended for 30 days, three months if it is the second knockout within three months, or one year if it is the third knockout within one year.
Oo0E4 TIL about Russia's "spacecraft graveyard" in the Altai region, where over 2,500 tons of space debris -- some dozens of feet long -- have rained down since the start of the Space Age. As new space junk falls, locals rush to raid the wreckage for precious metals they can sell.
gMnl4 TIL Heinz ketchup became so popular because Heinz invented a way to keep commercially produced ketchup red, which allowed him to package it in clear glass bottle and look more appealing. Before it, commercially produced ketchup was brown.