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278

TIL Britain has so much cocaine it is now in the drinking water

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OGGLg TIL in 2010 the US Air Force built a supercomputer out of 1760 PS3s. It was the 35th most powerful supercomputer in the world at the time and used 10% of the energy of comparable systems.
d8yZ7 TIL Chinese director Jia Zhangke has been praised as "the most important filmmaker working in the world today." Jia's status in China rose when he was allowed to direct his fourth feature film, The World, with state approval. His first short film was a documentary on tourists in Tiananmen Square
j6yPQ TIL Finches and canaries were used in the coal mine industry to detect carbon monoxide. This practice ceased as of 1986
8eg68 TIL Alice Cooper owns the first "O" next to the "W" the Hollywood sign. He purchased it in memory of Groucho Marx for $27,000 as part of a restoration project to restore the sign.
7r9AZ TIL: The “Veuve” in Veuve Clicquot means widow. Madame Cliquot is considered the world’s first international businesswoman. Taking over her dead husband’s business at 27, she was only legally allowed to run it because she was a widow.