› added 11 years ago

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TIL when Alexander the Great was a child, his tutor rebuked him for wasting so much incense during a sacrifice to the gods. Years later, Alexander conquered Gaza and sent back 18 tons of the spices to his old tutor with a note telling him not to be stingy with the gods.

ajGb TIL In 2004, a group in Melbourne, Victoria organised an event where 30 men would grow a moustache for 30 days in order to raise awareness for prostate cancer and depression in men. The group later formed into the “Movember Foundation Charity” which has since raised $174-million worldwide.
awQlN TIL between 2000 and 2001 Tesco was the subject of a letter bomb campaign from a person who demanded that the company's loyalty card be modified to enable withdrawing money from ATMs.
GYgQN TIL when firing the Germans biggest cannon in WW1, they had to move 300 yards away and fire it electrically. They were still so close they required cotton wadding in their eyes, nose and ears, and fired it with their mouth open to prevent the gun from blowing out their ear drums.
0d6ZA TIL that red translucent glass is made with pure gold particles. The first red glass was the gold ruby glass and it was made in 1680 in Germany.
GY7Z7 TIL that James Michael Tyler got the role of Gunther the barista in "Friends" because he was the only extra who knew how to use an espresso machine. He would go on to appear in 185 of the show's 236 episodes over 10 seasons, and he still receives residuals for his work.