› added 6 years ago

65

TIL that between 1933 and 1941, the Chinese city of Shanghai accepted unconditionally over 18,000 Jewish people escaping Europe during WWII. This was more than Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and British India combined.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

gMlBA TIL that Turkeys were heralded by the Mayan people as vessels of the gods and were honored as such, so much so that they were domesticated to have roles in religious rites. They were symbols of power and prestige and can be found everywhere in Maya iconography and archaeology.
DQK6P TIL that Martha Stewart dated Anthony Hopkins but ended the relationship after she saw The Silence of the Lambs.
WkvL8 TIL that in many cultures, people would greet each other by grasping each others' hands' - with full skin-to-skin contact - and vigorously shaking them up and down.
4XbV5 TIL that in the 2000 Presidential campaign Michael Moore got Alan Keyes, a Republican candidate, to join a mosh pit to Rage Against the Machine
1a8RO TIL in 1999, Macromedia hired Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame to create 39 animated shorts to showcase its "Shockwave" player. The result was "Princess". Parker and Stone never heard back after submitting the first two episodes. Here's the first episode (very NSFW).