› added 12 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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OGorX TIL Union General Philip Kearny devised the first unit insignia patches used in the U.S. Army in 1862, after mistakenly giving orders to soldiers not under his command. Afterward, his men wore a patch of red cloth to identify themselves as members of his unit. Other units quickly adopted the idea.
ploZ TIL in 1887, a mathematician received a prize for his work on the stability of the solar system. A year later, after finding an error in his own work, he published a paper contradicting it, which led to the development of chaos theory.
rRxrx TIL of Keith Moon, drummer for The Who and notorious for his destructive behavior. While headed to the airport with his band, he asked to be taken back to the hotel saying “Oh my God, I forgot something”. After launching the tv out the hotel room window, he came back saying “Phew, I nearly forgot!”
oRjD7 TIL about Bir Tawil, an 800-square-mile area of land between Egypt and Sudan that is terra nullius (land belonging to no one) because both countries refuse to claim it. Claiming Bir Tawil would legally force them to give up their claim on the more valuable Hala'ib Triangle.
0waWL TIL a pet tortoise was found alive in a wooden box, 30 years after she went missing