› added 9 years ago

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TIL that after flights were grounded on 9/11, one plane was allowed to fly. It carried anti-venom from San Diego to Florida to save the life of a snake keeper suffering from a deadly taipan bite. The only other taipan anti-venom was in New York.

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KYlvG TIL a territorial loophole created a de facto lawless piece of land between the Dutch and Belgian border. This area became known for hosting illegal raves, drug deals and prostitution. The loophole was closed in 2018 after a headless corpse was found there.
EgybP TIL McDonald's was fined $4 million in 1999 for not reporting 400+ injuries of children using Big Mac Climber jungle gyms, where children climbed up a tube from the ground and played between two giant metal hamburger buns. The last Big Mac Climbers were removed from McDonald's playgrounds in 1997.
R7Lja TIL about Mandate of Heaven, theory in China, according to which the ruler must have the support of Heaven to rule. Moral rulers who care for their people gain the mandate. If a despot sits on the throne, the Heavens can withdraw it, which they signal through e.g. eclipses, floods, wars, plagues etc
pLvA TIL Pentagon freaked out in the 1980s when they realized Finland had, against their expectations, managed to build two Mir submarines capable of diving to 6000 meters. They went on to shut down the whole Finnish submarine industry by privately threatening the country with heavy sanctions.
MewX0 TIL that the airline with the most destinations is UPS Airlines, with 807 destinations, more than double the number of any other airline