› added 10 years ago

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TIL in 1858 a massive brawl between more than 50 US Representatives ended when a missed punch between two Reps knocked the wig off of Representative Barksdale’s head. The embarrassed Barksdale accidentally replaced the wig backwards, causing both sides to erupt in spontaneous laughter.

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69K8Y TIL: In countries like the UK, Canada, or Australia, if the government can't pass a budget, there is no "shutdown". Instead, the government is forced to resign and new elections are held.
GyeN TIL that Norinco (Chinese firearms manufacturer) guns are no longer imported into the US because the company tried to sell anti-aircraft missiles to US street gangs.
R5dp7 TIL of a court in France which stopped a girl being named "Nutella" and forcibly renamed her to Ella in the absence of her parents. The Judge said that the name Nutella would "only lead to teasing or disparaging thoughts," a complaint not heard by her parents as they did not attend the hearing.
DlrD TIL Sesame Street created an episode in the wake of 9/11 in which Big Bird has to deal with his pen pal Gulliver, who does not believe birds should be friendly to other species
6EQpJ TIL scientists are going to try and bring back the northern white rhino from extinction by combining the eggs from the southern white rhino with the cryopreserved sperm of a northern white rhino to create viable embryos and embryonic stem cells!