› added 10 years ago

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TIL Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh was married to a Chinese woman. But today, Vietnamese government refused to acknowledge her existence, instead they promoted myth that he was celibate because “he was so dedicated to revolution”

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via reddit.com

69WdX TIL that in the 17th century, when coffee had made its way to Europe, some people reacted to it with suspicion or fear, calling it the “bitter invention of Satan.” In 1615, the clergy in Venice asked Pope Clement VIII to intervene. He found the drink so satisfying that he gave it papal approval.
0eM1 TIL that 16% of Canadians believe that alien beings have come down to earth and now walk amongst us in our communities disguised as “us”
b9Vwj TIL that a factor in the fall of Constantinople was a huge cannon called Basilica that was over 8m long, .75m in diameter, and could fire 270kg stone balls over 1.5km. Basilica took 3 hours to reload, and collapsed under its own recoil after 6 weeks of use. It took 60 oxen and 400 men to transport.
6EXaW TIL that Jack Ma, founder of Aibababa, would bike 70minutes from his home to an International Hotel when he as 13. He did this to give free tours to tourist and converse with them, in an attempt to improve his English. He did this for nine years
64Yw TIL, speedlimits are somewhat pointless. When limits were changed by as much a 20mph, the rate vehicles traveled didn’t change. What did was the number of citations given.