› added 12 years ago

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TIL that the world’s first Buddhist ruler, Emperor Ashoka, who ruled India form 274-232 BCE, was the first ruler in human history to ban slavery, the death penalty, animal cruelty, and deforestation. He even advocated gender equality in education and religious institutions.

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aw1yJ TIL China's "Lost Army." Following the Chinese Civil War, a KMT army fled into Burma and continued to fight the CCP from there. To fund their war, they seized a Burmese province and turned it into narco-state. Some of these soldiers eventually formed some of Southeast Asia's first drug syndicates.
ZpDaR TIL about Mike Malloy. Known as “Iron Mike”, “Rasputin of the Bronx”, or simply “Mike the Durable”, he survived multiple attempts on his life by "acquaintances" to collect insurance money. They ultimately succeeded in killing him, but were convicted of their crimes.
epdWJ TIL getting gasoline in your eyes isn't really any worse than getting pool water in your eyes.
4X9n5 TIL Russia has it's own identical remake of Arnold Schwarzenegger's 'Commando' called 'D-Day'.
1aOnV TIL When quicklime is heated to 2400°C it emits an intense glow. Before the invention of electric lights, quicklime was used as a lighting source for theater productions, and this is where the phrase "in the limelight" when referencing celebrity comes from.