› added 9 years ago

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TIL cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev launched into space as a Soviet citizen, but returned to earth as a Russian citizen - he was in orbit when the Soviet Union dissolved on December 26, 1991.

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KOe9Q TIL of 'Taxus voor hoop', a Dutch initiative to collect pruning leftovers of Yew trees/bushes from gardens to produce cancer treatment drugs
BPmb TIL that during the Civil War, the Union ignited 8,000 lbs of gunpowder, destroying a mine under the Confederate encampment, then proceeded to charge into the crater from the explosion, got stuck in said crater, and were brutally massacred due to Confederate high ground.
kOBVW TIL George H.W. Bush came very close to being eaten by cannibals in WW2
W7GZ9 TIL The popsicle was invented by an 11 year-old boy when he accidentally left a cup of powdered soda mix with a stirring stick outside on a freezing night
VMww0 TIL that many countries used "Immurement" as a form of punishment, where the victim was locked in a box and left to starve to death. The latest usage was in 1914, where a Mongolian woman left in a wooden crate died of dehydration.