› added 8 years ago

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TIL that a severe hurricane hit Houston, USA during World War II but was kept largely a secret to the public by government authorities to prevent Axis knowledge of lost industrial capacities in the area

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MbNW TIL in 2011, the entire country of Armenia lost internet access for 12 hours after a woman in Georgia broke a fiber line with her shovel.
NX676 TIL Canada made five $1,000,000 face value coins out of pure gold weighing 221lbs (100kg), one of which was stolen during a heist, never to be found
gop8 TIL The Walton family has given away about 2% of its net worth to charity – Bill Gates is giving away 48% of his net worth and Warren Buffet 78% of his net worth.
rNY7d TIL 'Midnight Train to Georgia' was written as a pop/country song ‘Midnight Plane to Houston,’ inspired by Farrah Fawcett
yQl18 TIL Bill The Butcher (Gangs of NY) was head of the Bowery Boys gang who's territory was Bowery street today. Mostly made up of firefighters literally fighting other gangs to have control over putting out fires. Fights between gangs would often break out and the fires were sometimes never put out.