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TIL the African nation of Eritrea is so repressive, residents have to get a special permit to have more than 2 guests over for dinner; if they fail to do so, their dinner is considered an illegal gathering and they may be jailed

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wL6a1 TIL a lot of countries now prefer to make economic deals with China instead of the U.S. due to the current U.S. administration in Washington being "hard to reach" and "hard to deal with"
VMBaG TIL that during the 1920s a class president candidate at Harvard swallowed a live goldfish in a bid to win more votes. The stunt created a trend of 'goldfish swallowing' which became so popular that eventually Massachusetts state legislature had to create a bill banning it
KOPvQ TIL that while Pope John Paul II considered the word 'popemobile' to be undignified, Pope Francis has made fun of the vehicle, calling it a 'glass sardine can'.
lobrA TIL of Gabriele Gast, an East German spy who was a high-ranking West German intelligence officer. She spied to continue seeing her lover in East Germany and was never paid for her spy work. However, she later learned that her lover was a professional Stasi seducer who strung her along for 20 years.
rRvK0 TIL about Victor Vescovo, the first person to travel to the deepest points in every ocean on Earth. All of his dives used the Deep Sea Vehicle Limiting Factor, which he funded. Vescovo has also skied to both poles and climbed the highest mountains on every continent.