› added 4 years ago

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TIL that Plymouth, the capital of the island country Montserrat, has 0 inhabitants. It was built near a volcano which erupted in 1997, substantially burning the town and burying it in ashes. The town was evacuated, but remains the de jure capital, making it the ony ghost-town capital in the world.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

GYBA4 TIL of Jerrie Cobb, who started flying at age 12 and later set world records for distance flight, speed, and altitude. She played semiprofessional softball to help finance her aviation, ranked in the top 2% of all astronaut candidates, and pioneered humanitarian flights earning a Nobel nomination.
xyR0 TIL that Grace Kelly and her family had to provide Prince Rainier of Monaco with a dowry of $2 million in order for the marriage to go ahead.
4XL7R TIL Reagan and Gorbachev Agreed to Pause the Cold War in Case of an Alien Invasion
d8DoZ TIL that in 1871 Clement Vallandigham, a lawyer and Ohio politician defending a man accused of murder, accidentally shot himself while demonstrating how the victim might have accidentally shot himself. His client was cleared.
kexm TIL that the Brits selling Rolls-Royce jet engines to the Soviets after WW2 (for non-military purposes) played a decisive role in giving the Communists the upper hand in the Korean War’s air battles. In Stalin’s own words: ‘Who in their right mind would sell anything like this to us?’