› added 7 months ago

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TIL that in London, Big Ben has a microphone always next to the bell, so that it can play live the bongs at the beginning of the UK news.

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via reddit.com

7Enr TIL that Queen guitarist Brian May developed hepatitis from a tainted needle in 1974, almost forcing him to have his arm amputated. He eventually regained his health in time to help his bandmates finish the album which contained their first megahit, “Killer Queen”.
6NGm TIL in 1924 there was a steam powered car which could reach over 100 miles per hour, and it achieved about fifteen miles per gallon of kerosene with negligible emissions.
pYwV8 TIL of Mimizuka, a shrine in Kyoto, Japan dedicated to 68,000 Korean and Chinese noses collected during Toyotomi Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea in the 1590s. The Japanese killed at least 1 million Koreans & Chinese during the wars and collected at least 215,000 heads.
nWnWW TIL that in 1944, double agent Arabel/Garbo was awarded the German Iron Cross and, four months later, the Order of the British Empire Medal. Along with Lauri Törni, he is one of the few people to have received a military distinction from both the Axis and the Allies.
X059Q TIL “☪️OE✡️IS✝️” was designed by a Piotr Mlodozeniec for a contest held by an art museum in Jerusalem. The design gained popularity when Indians students trademarked it and sold it on shirts. Their legal team then reached out to Mlodozeniec for permission to use it so they could sue a competitor.