› added 11 years ago

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TIL Ranald Macdonald a Chinook/Scottish man, ventured to Japan despite knowing of the strict isolationist policy. He pretended to shipwreck on an island, where he was caught and sent to Nagasaki. There, he managed to convince the Daimyo that he could be of value as Japan’s first English teacher.

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0Qvp TIL 200 Indian women stormed into the court and lynched a serial rapist. 5 women were arrested but released when every women in the local slum claimed responsibility for the murder
oRRpo TIL that the term "blowing smoke up their butt/behind/arse" derives from the 1700s when blowing tobacco smoke in someone's anus was a method used for resuscitating drowning victims.
xWeo TIL even the US President doesn’t necessarily have access to all Top Secret information unless there is a demonstrated “need-to-know.”
9Yd0M TIL the smoke you see when blowing out a candle isn't smoke at all, but paraffin wax vapour
yQx8J TIL that the flag of Ulster is made of a cross drawn in Saracen blood by Richard the Lionheart and a mutilated hand supposedly cut off to claim a kingdom.