› added 4 years ago

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TIL about the Totnes Orange Race. It's an event held every year where people chase oranges down a street. It's based on a story involving Sir Frances Drake bumping into a delivery of oranges which caused children to chase after them since they were an expensive fruit at the time.

5VxxR TIL To get a car stuck in sand out, dont dig the sand, pour about a litre of water around stuck tires, wait a minute and the wet sand will add enough traction to get out with ease. No pushing or digging and very little effort. Extremely helpful at the beach or desert
0d501 TIL that Australia has forced gambling companies to display slogans in their ads like “You win some. You lose more” and “What's gambling really costing you?” instead of the standard “Gamble Responsibly”
vlGB TIL in 1973, three astronauts on the Skylab 4 space station went on strike after being over worked, demanding more time for contemplating the universe and in Pogue’s words “studying the, the Earth below, and ourselves”: the first strike in space.
OGAkL TIL that modern US Marine Corp infantry organization, tactics, training, and the even the slogan Gungho are inspired by the experiences of Gen Evans Carlson during the time he spent visiting with Chinese Comminist guerillas during WWII.
ny77 TIL during WW2, when the Russians retreated they usually destroyed most buildings suitable for command posts. However, they would often leave some large buildings intact, but only after lining the buildings with time bombs set to explode weeks later - to destroy entire German headquarters at once