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TIL a hero named Rick Rescorla, while in the process of saving 2,700 lives on 9/11, called his wife and said, “Stop crying. I have to get these people out safely. If something should happen to me, I want you to know I’ve never been happier. You made my life.”

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VrND TIL that Japanese death row inmates aren’t given their execution date until a few hours prior and their family isn’t told until after they’re already dead.
BEoK TIL the reason that NORAD annually tracks Santa Claus’ journey from the North Pole is because Sears printed an ad to talk to Santa on his private line, with a wrong phone number that was actually CONAD’s top secret hotline that would only ring if there was a national crisis
wX5M TIL that the name “refried beans” comes from a mistranslation of the Spanish name for the dish, “frijoles refritos.” The “re-” was taken directly from the Spanish name, but in Spanish the “re-” prefix actually means “very” or “well.”
5V1gn TIL In China, there's a dish called Tong Zi Dan, where eggs are cooked in children's urine. Locals collect urine from kids in spring as a raw material. Surprisingly, these eggs sell for double the price of regular boiled eggs due to their cultural significance.
R70b4 TIL in 2013 a dog named Killian saved a baby boy from an abusive babysitter. He alerted his owners by growling and standing between the baby and the sitter whenever she was there. Suspicious, the parents left an iPhone under the sofa recording audio. The sitter was later convicted on what they heard