› added 11 years ago

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TIL - in 2011, firefighters let a house burn down because the owners had not paid the $75 annual firefighting fee

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P1x5J TIL that the grave of Harry Potter, a British soldier killed in a 1930s Palestinian revolt, has become a tourist attraction for simply sharing a name with the main character of JK Rowlings' series
Wgdo TIL That Google’s “I’m feeling lucky” button looses them an estimated $110 million in ad revenue every year.
0LBj TIL in 1993 when a US Military food scientist was asked what should be used in the pictograph instructions to prop up the heater of their new “Meal, Ready-to-Eat” rations, he replied “I don’t know. Let’s make it a rock or something.” The rock illustration and the iconic phrase remain on MREs today.
y0op TIL that during the Berlin Blockade in 1948 a pilot who was doing supply drops for the civilians became known as ‘Uncle Wiggly Wings’ after he started dropping candy and chocolate from his plane and wiggling his wings so people knew it was him.
mJko TIL: A POW during the Vietnam War named James Stockdale said to survive in such arduous conditions you must renounce optimism for stoicism. His optimistic fellow captives all died. Having a blindly optimistic view worsens your chances of survival. This is called ‘The Stockdale Paradox’.