› added 6 years ago

491

TIL that FDR’s grandfather, Warren Delano, made the Roosevelt family fortune by smuggling opium into China throughout the 19th century. A “fair, honorable, and legitimate” trade, according to him.

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9wwn6 TIL Japan's current imperial dynasty is the oldest in the world, spanning 126 emperors, more than 2500 years and was founded in the year 660 BCE by Jimmu Tenno, son of goddess Amaterasu
yo8M TIL Psy has a very anti-American past he is trying to hide
eo9g TIL the military has used Silly String to detect trip wires in Iraq. The strands of string go 10-12 feet and are light enough to not set off the tripwire.
8al9V TIL researchers trained pigeons to discriminate between paintings by Picasso and by Monet. They won the humorous Ig Nobel Prize in psychology for their work.
LQABZ TIL In New Zealand, there's a driving school for dogs. They're trained on simulators by handlers to perform actions like starting the car and shifting gears, showing that rescued dogs can learn new skills.