› added 4 years ago

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TIL that when a plane was hijacked over Switzerland in 2014, the neighboring countries of Italy and France had to send their own fighter jets to the scene because the incident happened outside of the Swiss Air Force's business hours, and even hijackings weren't important enough to pay for overtime.

Read more theguardian.com

via reddit.com

Oo8oe TIL Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has entertained the idea that Harry went mad in the cupboard under the stairs and made up a magical world in his head to cope with it.
OGaB4 TIL Epigenetics is the study of how your behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work. Unlike genetic changes, epigenetic changes are reversible and do not change your DNA sequence. Epigenetic changes affect gene expression to turn genes “on” and “off.”
D1w9r TIL that the Lord of the Rings film trilogy brought the country of New Zealand so much attention, that the government of New Zealand has a "Minister of the Rings", who is responsible for all affairs involving the production of LOTR in New Zealand.
nweW TIL in 50 years and after transporting 10 billion passengers the Japanese Bullet train has had zero fatalities in collisions and derailements
v1OXR TIL that, on 16 november 1949, students in Ghent (Belgium) stormed the medieval castle, lowered the portculis and threw fruit from the walls at the police to protest a new tax on beer. The event is still commemorated yearly by the city as the greatest student prank in its history.