› added 7 years ago

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TIL Osama Bin Laden was actually killed by the CIA, and he had a significant stash of Opium near by. In preparation for the raid, the Seal team was legally signed over to CIA control for legal protection, and all records are shielded from the Freedom of Information Act.

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yQeev TIL that Canada, which is 1.4% Sikh, has more Sikhs than any country other than India (1.9% Sikh)
Z8NDv TIL the Gell-Mann Amnesia Effect, where experts will notice all the stupid errors in a news article but still treat the next article as 100% accurate, was invented by the author Michael Crichton who named it after the famous physicist he was talking to at the time to make it sound more scientific.
ndMG TIL that the word “silly” changed meaning over time from “happy” to “blessed”, “pious,” “innocent”, “harmless,” “pitiable”, and then “weak” before reaching the current meaning.
rRwod TIL about Percy Julian an African American Scientist who pioneered the drug industry. After he developed the chemical synthesis of hormones like progesterone and testosterone, he became the first African American chemist inducted into the National Academy of Sciences.
9wlQm TIL when President Charles De Gaulle visited Harold McMillan at his home in Birch Grove in 1961, the French Secret Service put a special fridge in the coach house filled with De Gaulle's blood in case of an assassination attempt. A Daily Mail reporter was also bitten on his behind by a police dog.