› added 1 year ago

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TIL that Barry Goldwater and John F. Kennedy were close friends. They planned to hold a series of Lincoln-Douglas style debates across the country in the 1964 presidental election. Goldwater was greatly dissapointed at Kennedy's assassination and that his opponent would not be Kennedy.

VVAp TIL that during the Falklands War, when the HMS Sheffield was sunk by Argentinian missiles, the crew members who made it into the water sang the song “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” from Monty Python’s Life of Brian while they waited for rescue.
KYgnQ TIL there is a US District (Federal) Courthouse located within Yosemite National Park commonly called the Yosemite Federal Courthouse. The Court handles citations by rangers covering infractions like removing wildlife, improper weapon possession, drunk in public and unlawful hunting.
OoL9L TIL that a longstanding custom in Denmark for people who are still unmarried by their 25th birthday is to have their friends and family tie them to a lamppost and douse them in cinnamon. If in 5 years they're still unmarried, this gets upgraded to pepper.
a8Lx0 TIL in 1945, at 59 years old, Albert Stevens was misdiagnosed with terminal stomach cancer, and as a result was secretly injected with 131 kBq (3.55 μCi) of Plutonium as part of a human experimentation project by Joseph Gilbert Hamilton. It was later discovered the "cancer" was an inflamed ulcer.
9VJ7 TIL That 18 material witnesses died within 3 years after JFK’s death - six by gunfire, three in motor accidents, two by suicide, one from a cut throat, one from a karate chop to the neck, three from heart attacks, and two from natural causes.