› added 7 years ago

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TIL there is believed to be only one remaining Jew in Afghanistan. He has special permission to butcher his own meat according to Kosher law, and is caretaker to the only remaining synagogue in Kabul. Despite his family having emigrated to Israel, he himself refuses: "Why should I leave?"

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KO9VG TIL there is an very isolated island in the Pacific inhabited entirely by the descendants of a group of British sailors who mutinied against their captain in 1789, kidnapped a dozen Polynesian girls, and resolved to "run before the wind, and land upon the first island the ship drives."
NV0e TIL… When Alan Shepard was waiting for liftoff to become the first American in space, a reporter asked him what he was thinking about. He replied “The fact that every part of this ship was built by the low bidder.” [Fixed Title]
rNXXW TIL that hippos can sleep submerged in the water and come to the surface to breathe without waking up.
4ZOw TIL in 2004, there were three major computer virus authors at “war” with each other. They were the Netsky, Bagle and Mydoom worms. Netsky was most famous for comments within the code insulting the authors of the other viruses and, in some cases, routines that removed versions of the other viruses.
epmxL TIL that Egyptian mummies would have their eyes replaced by shells, linens or painted onions. This has made it especially difficult to study Egyptian mummy eyes since embalmers often made no effort to preserve them.