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TIL during WWII, Winston Churchill had a private bathroom in his bunker, that was actually hiding a direct phone-link to the president of the USA. So, when the lock on the door was switched from ‘vacant’ to ‘engaged’, Churchill wasn’t using the toilet, he was instead conducting important business.

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jNEN TIL the Governor of New York wrote an article in 1919 warning of a “holocaust” against “six million” Jews in Europe [resubmission because TIL mods took down last one that reached the front-page because they said it was not verifiable. Article now contains JewishVirtualLibrary citation]
5w58 TIL in 1994 a passenger was killed by a bomb on a Philippine Airlines flight. This led Philippine police to discover a plot to blow up 11 airplanes in 48 hours over the Pacific, and another plot, which they shared with the FBI in 1995, to fly airplanes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
lowe7 TIL in the 5th century BC, diabetes was first identified by a surgeon named Sushruta who pointed out that the urine of diabetics was sweet enough to attract ants and sticky to the touch. He noted that diabetes affected rich castes and was related to the excessive consumption of rice and sweets
NKoM TIL that in the 17th century the Finnish people used a measure called Poronkusema: the distance a reindeer can walk before needing to urinate.
b96J4 Whatever you do, don’t press that button. It’s a trope that’s spanned pop culture for generations—and the real world, too. But where did this Big Red Button come from? And why does sick curiosity compel us to mash it down?