› added 9 years ago

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TIL that besides 9/11, the only other attack by an outside force on Washington D.C. was in 1814 when George Cockburn, an admiral in the British Royal Navy, literally walked into the White House, ate James Madison’s dinner, drank his wine, and then set fire to the place.

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JD7B TIL: According to the United Nations, there are only 17 Non-self Governing Territories in the world. The United Kingdom controls 10 of them. The United States controls three.
oPa8 TIL that soccer makes more money than football, basketball, baseball, golf, tennis and hockey combined.
QJAre TIL that Lt. Pham Quang Khiem managed to escape South Vietnam in April 1975 with 53 relatives and friends by stealing a C-130a and flying to Singapore. They were later flown to Guam and then the US, where Pham became a pilot for US Airways. The C-130a is currently at the National Warplane Museum.
b6BnE TIL The oldest known map of New York City, the Manatus Map, is lost; however, two 17th century copies of the map exist with slight differences.
wLAaP TIL that a protein called Hemo occurs in foetuses that is not produced by the mother, but a gene originating from a virus that infected our ancestors over 100 million years ago.