› added 4 months ago

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TIL that a 2016 Daallo Airlines flight survived a mid-air bomb explosion when the bomber himself was sucked out of the plane, and all other passengers survived.

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rRXJ1 TIL Wang Meng was sent to Xinjiang to be "reformed" through labor in 1963 for writing a controversial piece. During this period of hardship he accrued much of the experience that would later become the material for his short stories and novels, and he later became China's Minister of Culture
lwxG TIL James Watson, one of the scientists who discovered the helical structure of DNA, believes that stupidity is a disease and stupid people should be “cured”
QJNQk When you think of archaeology, you might think of ancient buildings or Han Solo in a fedora, but the truth is, archaeologists spend more time digging through ancient trash than avoiding ancient Peruvian blowgun traps. In fact, many of the items behind the glass at your favorite museum were most likely found in a midden or ancient dump. Even today, archaeologists believe that trash reveals more about the lives we actually lead than, say, a journal. As far as archaeologists are concerned, one man’s trash is indeed another man’s treasure. So the next time you throw that Hot Pocket wrapper in the trash, just remember: It belongs in a museum!PRODUCER/EDITOR: Chris MattleCAMERA/ASSISTANT PRODUCER: Laurence AlexanderCAMERA: Jared Gair
6E5w7 TIL that Dolly Parton has given away more than 100 million books to young children through her Imagination Library. This was inspired by her father, who couldn’t read, and she wanted to make sure all kids have early access to books.
8aWV8 TIL N.Machiavelli, fired from his job, subjected to torture and exiled in his farm after the fall of the republic, would return from the fields at dusk and put on a diplomat's formal attire just to make himself feel better while he was studying alone. At around this time he wrote "the prince"