› added 9 years ago

120

TIL that the United States led the world in forced sterilizations before Nazi Germany.

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via reddit.com

p8lJO TIL the worlds tallest statue is the Statue of Unity in India, with a height of 182 metres (597 ft)
yV0Dp TIL at the Battle of Marathon, the Athenians advanced towards the Persians at a run, a tactic not previously seen in Greek warfare. This approach surprised the Persians, who considered it madness for the Greeks to charge without cavalry or archers.
wOmJ TIL that “Bruce”, the shark created for the movie Jaws, almost killed George Lucas. On a visit to the effects shop Lucas stuck his head into the shark’s mouth and, as a joke, Spielberg closed it on his head, trapping him. The mouth was jammed shut and had to be pried open in order to free Lucas.
NXrN1 TIL during the Coolie Ordinances in the Dutch East Indies it was ordained that plantation owners were completely free to exact physical or capital punishment on their indentured workers. This system ended in the early 1940s, and it is estimated many tens of thousands perished.
ep4x5 TIL the "dirt" under your fingernails is most commonly the keratin debris from the underside of the nail, as well as skin cells from the nail bed.