› added 7 years ago

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TIL that the entire US-Canada border is defined by a 20 ft. deforested area called "The Slash".

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MeQdb TIL in 2000 Portugal decriminalized ALL drugs. If police find someone w/a supply larger than 10 days worth of personal use they aren’t arrested but brought before a “dissuasion panel” made up of experts who evaluate the person & prescribe treatment. both HIV infections & deaths by OD have plummeted.
BrmAd TIL about a Former Disney actor, ‘Gaston,’ who was killed in firework incident
wLppJ TIL FARC got tricked into giving up their most high profile hostage and 14 others. The Colombian army made up a NGO which would transfer captives by helicopter. Once aboard the chopper, the soldiers revealed the ruse and arrested the militants, freeing all hostages. Not a single shot was fired.
a7JL TIL that Tamerlane was a Turkish ruler whose tomb was discovered by Soviet archeologists in 1941. An inscription in the tomb read “Who ever opens my tomb, shall unleash an invader more terrible than I.” Two days later, the Nazis launched Operation Barbarossa and invaded the USSR.
9m9D TIL: Ottoman Pirates undertook a series of Slave Raids in Iceland in 1627. They captured an estimated 400–900 Icelandic prisoners to sell into slavery. This event is known in Iceland as Tyrkjaránið – the ‘Turkish Raid’