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TIL that the Huanghuagang Martyr Memorial in China has a replica of the US Statute of Liberty on top. It replaced a previous Statue of Liberty that held a rifle, symbolizing Mao's quote that “political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”

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via reddit.com

Lkxe0 TIL Sir Frederick Banting, the Nobel-Prize-winning discoverer of insulin, created the first private biological weapon research centre in 1940. Soon afterwards, the US government was also pressed to perform such research by their British allies who feared a German attack with biological weapons.
pYMQ8 TIL that when the Crown Prince of Albania, Leka returned to Albania in 2022, he brought with him 11 cases of automatic weapons, grenades, and hunting arms. The authorities seized them but gave them back after being deemed items of cultural heritage.
KGA4 TIL the Beatles played a demo copy of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” before its release at full volume from an open apartment window at 6AM. Instead of complaining, the residents opened their windows and listened, aware they were hearing unreleased Beatles music.
Me67K TIL rock band Death Grips didn't play a show in 2013 due to a fan sending them a suicide note explaining how much their music meant to him/her. The band didn't show up at all and had a giant banner of the fans suicide note with their music playing in the background.
w78 TIL Reading Rainbow, backed by Lamar Burton himself will be making a huge comeback as an iPad app to get kids hooked on books again.