› added 6 years ago

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TIL of Operation Moolah, a 1953 USAF effort to obtain a combat capable Soviet MiG-15 jet by rewarding any defecting Communist pilot 100k cash. The person who won it didn't even know it was being offered.

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69YjJ TIL Sharks Are Actually Older Than Trees
PYBZG TIL Due to US prison regulations, there is a whole manufacturing industry dedicated to clear plastic TVs, radios and CD players without speakers (headset only) and even snacks (The Whole Shabang )
6DE8 TIL Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created by the department store chain Montgomery Ward as one way to save money on some of their annual Christmas promotions
BreRb TIL: In Soviet labor camps, prisoners would ingest a condom attached to a length of rubber tubing, fill it up with raw alcohol then smuggle themselves back into the camp. Once there, they would be suspended upside down by the other prisoners and used as a human keg.
1aM04 TIL In 1885, Taiwan was established as a province of China. Though occupied by Japan during the Second World War, it came back to China after Japan was defeated. Ma Ying-jeou, the former leader of Taiwan, tried hard to deepen the connections with the mainland