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TIL that Mao and the Chinese Communist Party leaders had a quota of up to 4 deaths in a thousand, as they went about breaking up the social structure and land reform after the formation of the People’s Republic. Landlords were first up for executions.

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AMvo TIL that there is a 500-year-old statue of a man eating a sack of babies in Bern, Switzerland — Nobody is sure why.
KO8kE TIL It was once extremely common to find Irishmen in high military command positions in the armies of continental European powers. Many Irish generals and officers would often encounter armies led by other Irishmen who they knew and once fought with against Britain
0wG7p TIL: When asked by London on whether the rumours regarding the Argentinian invasion of the Falklands islands were true, a Telex operator on the island simply said, "We have lots of new friends".
4ko1X TIL that gasoline was commonly used for dry cleaning clothes in early 1900s American homes. It was also extremely dangerous, forcing the California State Fire Marshal to create a campy PSA video about it in 1941.
aw6jM TIL that Tristan da Cunha, a British island in the Atlantic 2400 km away from the nearest continent, is a commune, where all land is communally owned and cattle numbers are restricted to discourage wealth accumulation.