› added 11 years ago

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TIL Canada’s first deaths in Afghanistan were the result of friendly fire after U.S. Maj. Harry Schmidt ignored direct orders to hold fire and dropped a 500lb missile on a Canadian battalion during training exercises. Schmidt has refused to apologize for his role in the incident.

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YZ8d TIL: Journalist Dorothy Kilgallen was the only person to have a private interview with Jack Ruby, the man who shot Lee Oswald. She told friends about the JFK assassination “If its the last thing I do I’m going to break this case” -she never did. She was found dead in mysterious circumstances.
awBGL TIL that Andrè the Giant,while drunk in New York City, fell on a man,seriously hurting him. Afterwards ,the NYPD sent undercover cops to tail him when he was in the city to avoid such incidents
WkarB TIL that the 12-story Soviet embassy in Indonesia was torn down in December 1990 (a year before its dissolution) due to national security concern over a mall (Plaza Indonesia) built near the building. Always thought that the current Russian embassy was also the one used by the Soviet Union.
OGyN4 TIL that while Danny Trejo was filming in "The Muppets: Most Wanted!" his mother passed. The cast all offered their sympathy but he shrugged it off because of his 'tough guy' persona. It wasn't until Steve Whitmire apologized in character as Kermit the Frog that Trejo broke down crying.
4ymX TIL food stamps were born as conservative, pro-business policy meant to provide American-style choice in commodities for recipients and to promote mainstream American economics by allowing recipients to choose their own foodstuffs as opposed to receiving literal handouts of food from backs of trucks