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TIL Pope Gregory XVI opposed gas lighting and railways, believing that they would create commerce and lead to liberal reforms. Gregory XVI in fact banned railways in the Papal States, calling them chemins d'enfer ("road to hell", a play on the French for railroad, chemin de fer, "iron road")

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j6MvQ TIL that Lady Gaga has revealed director Quentin Tarantino told her to use the pussy wagon in her music video. The yellow truck - originally used in Tarantino's 2003 movie Kill Bill Vol. 1 - makes a cameo appearance in the nine-minute video for 'Telephone'.
wLZx8 TIL that George Wallace, the governor who tried to stop two black students from attending the University of Alabama, became a born-again Christian in the late 70s, rebuked his support for segregation, and when reelected in the 80s, made a record number of black appointees to state positions.
7N8O TIL that over 90% of pregnancies in the United Kingdom and Europe with a diagnosis of Down syndrome are terminated.
wL0D1 TIL about the Draggonades, a French policy put in place by King Louis XIV where misbehaving French soldiers were quartered in Protestant households to force conversion to Catholicism.
6E80J TIL Russian cosmonauts used to carry pistols into space in case of a bear attack at their landing site