› added 8 years ago

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TIL A tradition of High Wycombe, UK, involves its Mayor being weighed annually in public on a specially erected scale, and their weight compared with the previous year. If it has increased, it means they have been indulging in too much good living at taxpayers’ expense, and the crowd jeers and boos

KYZKB TIL during the 13th century eating breakfast was said to be one of six ways to commit the fifth deadly sin of gluttony; and throughout the middle ages it was common to eat two meals a day - a larger meal that might include meat and wine around 11am followed by a lighter meal at dusk.
ZgRQ TIL Cats kidneys are so efficient that they can drink Salt Water (Sea Water) to rehydrate themselves
4kyRo TIL when Pixar was working on Toy Story 2, someone accidentally ran a command that began deleting all the movie files. The day was saved because one employee had a backup copy at home since she worked remotely while caring for her newborn.
7VwP TIL that Hugh Thomson, the man who during the Vietnam War had landed a helicopter in the line of fire to confront and stop American troops who had by that point killed close to 500 unarmed civilians in the My Lai Massacre, was labeled a traitor by Congress and ordered not to speak about the event.
p8gxQ TIL about "Operation Moolah", which offered large cash rewards to North Korean pilots who defected with an intact MiG-15 jet fighter. However, the only defector who ever met the conditions, No Kum-sok, was unaware of the offer. He was still paid $100,000 ($967,289 in today's money).