› added 11 years ago

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TIL almost all of The Hobbit’s character names were taken out of an old Icelandic poem “Dvergatal”

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WkMv4 TIL Smoking Areas existed in Public High Schools back in the 1980’s. Students could smoke cigarettes on school grounds between classes in designated lounges
wLVOY TIL the US has a 200 year-old pending Amendment which would strip citizenship from any citizen who accepts a title of nobility from a foreign country.
oRvwE TIL Atrazine, one of the world's most widely used pesticides, wreaks havoc on the population of frogs, emasculating 75% of makes, and turning 1/10 into females.
Z49D TIL that in 2008, 40% of German soldiers were overweight and unfit for duty. 8% were severely overweight
VMeKp TIL that during WW2, Japan launched Project Fugo, which sent hot air balloons to the U.S rigged with explosives. At the time, they were the longest ranged attacks in the history of warfare. However, they were largely ineffective due to weather, and caused only 6 deaths.