› added 8 years ago

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TIL: On Nixon’s Inauguration Day, LBJ pulled out a cigarette—his first since his heart attack. One of his daughters pulled it out of his mouth saying “Daddy, what are you doing? You’re going to kill yourself.” He replied, “I’ve now raised you girls. I’ve now been President. Now it’s my time!”.

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nW8jW TIL during the Napoleonic Wars a French ship sank near the English town of Hartlepool, the only survivor being a pet monkey. Allegedly, the townsfolk had never seen a Frenchman before and so tried and hanged the monkey, thinking it was a French spy.
yQdrw TIL that the blind spot problem that occurs while driving was solved in 1995, when engineer George Platzer published a 16 pages paper detailing the correct set up procedure of sideview mirrors.
gMX4y TIL during the 2013 Westgate shopping mall attack in Kenya an ex SAS member and former Irish soldier joined forces to rescue victims of the shooting, organised police to attempt a counter attack and evaded gunfire while rescuing people still trapped in the mall
dDjRr TIL about skunk cabbage - a Canadian plant that is capable of creating temperatures tens of degrees above ambient in order to melt its way through frozen ground! Thanks to this truly Canadian feature, skunk cabbage blooms while there is still snow and ice on the ground.
OvAL TIL while most countries place the currency symbol either before or after the amount, the Cape Verdean escudo places its symbol in the decimal position (i.e 20$00)