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TIL The eerie "Number Stations" are shortwave radio stations that broadcast cryptic messages, often consisting of strings of numbers or coded words. These stations have been transmitting since the Cold War era and continue to baffle listeners as their purpose and intended audience remain unknown.

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wDJ8 TIL British PM Gordon Brown hand-wrote a letter of condolence to a mother whose son had died in Afghanistan where he misspelled the deceased’s surname. The Sun published a vitriolic article criticising his lack of care but misspelled the same name and was forced to publish an apology of its own
b9EK7 TIL The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences used to give out an Academy Juvenile Award, complete with a miniature statue. Shirley Temple was the first and youngest to win the award at the age of 6 in 1934. Mickey Rooney was the oldest to win at 18. Hayley Mills was the last to win in 1960.
OMee TIL: Americans can fly to the moon faster than to New Zealand
BrA9b TIL United States is one of 23 countries that still has a working telegram service.
8VQX TIL That in the 1800’s there was a condition called Dysaesthesia aethiopica, which proposed a theory for the cause of laziness among slaves. The ‘cure’ was more lashings and a hard days labour in the sun.