› added 6 months ago

123

TIL the UK exports cheese to France, tea to China and boomerangs to Australia

Read more bbc.co.uk

via reddit.com

nej9P TIL that in 1865 the dictator of Paraguay plunged his country into an ill-advised war with Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. In just five years, Paraguay lost over half its population, including up to 90% of its men. It was arguably the worst military defeat ever suffered by a modern nation state.
ogvL TIL That if you randomly selected two people in Papua New Guinea, there would be a 99% chance the two would speak different languages.
9YKOm TIL: The TV show "Big Brother" had a policy of keeping the contestants in total information isolation. This included not informing the cast about 9/11. They had to change the policy after one of the cast's family members was lost at Ground Zero.
a8VQJ TIL of George Psalmanazar; a European man who rose to fame by claiming to be first Taiwanese person to visit Europe. He practiced a religion of his own invention, practiced made up rituals and spoke a made up language. His real name remains unknown.
M7OWB TIL Filipino movie star Corazon Noble was bayoneted 9 times by WWII Japanese soldier while trying to protect her 10 mo baby, who died after being sliced open 3 times, then helped testify in the postwar crime trials, and is still alive today.