› added 6 years ago

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TIL that before George Orwell wrote 1984, the Empire of Japan had established a political police known as the Shisō Keisatsu - which translated means "Thought Police". There also existed a "Thought Section of the Criminal Affairs Bureau". Until 1945, they arrested people for "dangerous ideologies".

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dDWR7 TIL that still being a desert, the Sechura region of Peru has been effected at times by flooding and storms from the ocean. It is a coastal desert.
gMe0y TIL that Texas has it's own separate electrical grid from the rest of the US. This was done for political purposes so that they didn't have to deal with Federal regulations.
Y7PgA TIL that the Apollo astronauts had to go through customs when they returned from the moon. They had to declare things like moon rock and other lunar samples.
m1nLR TIL 1816 was the "Year Without a Summer," due to very low temperatures. People believed the Sun was about to extinguish as large Sunspots were visible on it's surface, spreading doomsday panic. In actuality, the cause was due to Mt Tambora, the largest volcanic eruption in human history.
woM8P TIL in 1048 Emperor Jingzong of Western Xia seduced his son Ningling Ge's wife, lady Muoyi & conferred upon her a title of Empress. Then after he was told to kill his dad, Ge broke into his father's chambers but only managed to cut off his nose. However, his dad succumbed to the wounds 2 days later.