› added 10 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

E18Ld TIL of the Rhinoceros Party, a political party in Canada planning to make "Sorry" the new official motto of Canada and who wants to rise up the number of green cars by forcing manufacturers to build more cars in different shades of green.
b90PZ TIL Not a single person accused of witchcraft in America has been burned at the stake. Burning at the stake was only done in Europe, where witchcraft was a crime against the church. In America, witchcraft was a crime against the state, for which the punishment was hanging.
Y7n0r TIL of the pirate William Dampier, who wrote the first guacamole recipe, and gave us words like chopsticks, barbecue, and breadfruit.
GYEJE TIL that "Flash Gordon" is Queen Elizabeth II's favourite film, and she watches it with her grandchildren every Christmas. When actor Brian Blessed met the Queen, she asked him that if he doesn't mind, because she had the grandchildren there, would he mind saying "Gordon’s alive"?
M4Vb TIL that the Wizard of Oz tornado was a big sock with wind and dirt thrown at it.