› added 9 years ago

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TIL Ethel Merman’s last film appearance was “Airplane!,” where she played a man who thought he was Ethel Merman.

9Y0V7 TIL of Rusik, a Russian police cat. He was adopted by customs officers and sniffed vehicles and travellers for poached sturgeon roe. Rusik was later hit by a car he had previously found sturgeon in. Police suspected it was a revenge killing, due to how effective Rusik was at uncovering contraband.
kJdA4 TIL that the US considered dropping an atomic bomb on Kyoto. However, Secretary of War Henry Stimson had vacationed there and admired the city. So, he convinced President Truman to choose another target due to Kyoto’s religious significance. Nagasaki was chosen in its place.
N7rK8 TIL Canada's nuclear reactors (CANDU) are designed to use decommissioned nuclear weapons as fuel and can be refueled while running at full power. They're considered among the safest and the most cost effective reactors in the world.
ddMd TIL in India there is a statue of Jesus where water was mysteriously dripping from its toes. Worshipers would collect and sometimes drink the ‘holy water’. A man traced the source of the water to a clogged toilet behind the wall condensing on the statue. He had to flee the country as a result.
awZ1L TIL French courts have the ability to stop parents giving ‘inappropriate’ names to their children: in 2015 they ordered that a girl should be called ‘Ella’ and not ‘Nutella’ as originally intended.