› added 10 years ago

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TIL that even though it hasn’t existed for over 20 years, the Soviet Union is still in second place for all-time olympic medal wins.

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E1d6d TIL the X in Xmas literally means "Christ." In Greek, the word Christos (Christ) begins with the letter "X," or chi. Early in the early fourth century, Constantine the Great popularized the shorthand for Christ. Most scholars agree the first appearance of Xmas dates to an Anglo-Saxon scribe in 1021.
WVb8 TIL that in 1998 a 24 year-old Mexican peed on the Arc de Triomphe, extinguishing the eternal flame that had been burning since 1921 in honor to the fallen in WWI.
a8wwM TIL that 20 percent of people in Greenland have attempted suicide, compared to 5-6 percent in the UK and US
wLkp7 TIL of death sentence with reprieve, a punishment in which the criminal is given a two year suspended sentence before execution. By abstaining from additional crimes during the two years, the criminal can reduce the sentence to life imprisonment, or, by committing good deeds, a fixed-term sentence.
yO6M TIL that Japan uses 24 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks per year. China uses 45 billion. That’s 25 million trees per year.