› added 11 years ago

84

TIL that in 2005, a live grenade was thrown at George W. Bush by a terrorist in Georgia, but failed to detonate due to the handkerchief it was wrapped in. The grenade landed 18.6 metres from the President, well within its optimum killing range.

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p8WRN TIL: Breakfast being “the most important meal of the day” originated in a 1944 marketing campaign launched by General Foods, the manufacturer of Grape Nuts, to sell more cereal. During the campaign, grocery stores and radio ads promoted the importance of breakfast.
GAQbJ TIL Syracuse, NY has the only upside-down traffic light in the world
XE05X TIL that Henry VIII of England agreed to marry Anne of Cleves after seeing a portrait that he commissioned of her. After meeting in person, Henry realized she wasn't as attractive as the painting suggested and annulled the marriage. The portrait is now displayed in the Louvre.
j6K1R TIL Operation Midnight Climax was a program by the CIA in the mid 50s that used prostitutes to lure unsuspecting men to apartments in New York and San Francisco to drug them with LSD to test whether the combination of sex and LSD might influence the men to reveal information the government wanted.
PMrE TIL that Chinese people wanting to display their wealth drink expensive red wines..mixed with Coca-Cola and Sprite to make it taste more palatable.