› added 12 years ago

90

TIL there was supposed to be a Black Taj Mahal opposite of the original, but was never fully built.

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R7vy1 TIL that in 1968 RAF pilot Alan Pollock illegally flew his Hawker Hunter Jet through the span of Tower Bridge in Central London. His actions were to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of the RAF and as a demonstration against the Ministry of Defence for not recognising it.
loekV TIL about Scott and Helen Nearing, who bought acreage in the Great Depression and lived off the land until a ski resort saw their property value soar to $6 million. Deciding they'd done nothing to justify the increase, they donated the land to use as a forest, moved to Maine, and lived to age 99.
Q6Ve TIL that unlike James Bond, real MI6 agents don’t need a license to kill because everything they do outside the UK is already illegal. The UK spy agency makes Bond-like gadgets for operatives but, as one said after retiring, they “frequently fail to work upon arrival at our destination”.
5gZQ TIL that in 1863, Jules Verne wrote “Paris in the 20th Century,” a manuscript which predicted everything from glass skyscrapers to feminism to a statistical rise in illegitimate births; his publisher advised him against publishing it as it “broke no new ground” and was “unbelievable”
WkDX8 TIL During the Warsaw Uprising, Hungarian troops stationed nearby (under the command of Nazi officers) used many different methods to help the Polish Resistance, including staging mock "partisan raids" in order to distribute arms and equipment, and even went as far to defect to the Resistance.