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TIL Ireland’s reputation for scholarship in the early medieval period was so good that many scholars traveled from Britain and the European mainland to study in Irish schools

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kDBE TIL during WWII British spies posed as fake charity groups to hand out special monopoly games to allied prisoners of war. These games had compasses, maps, real money, and other useful tools for escaping.
rNJn1 TIL that rockets are launched from near the equator because it gives them a large initial speed, helping reach space with less fuel. Over a 24-hour period, such places travel longer distances than places at higher latitudes, which means that they move faster and have more angular momentum.
XEV6E TIL that when German intelligence discovered the phrase "Killroy was here" during World War 2 Hitler believed Killroy was the name of a high-level Allied spy
RK4 TIL that many supermarket oranges have their peels dyed orange–not all oranges’ orange peels turn orange by maturity. Their peels are green despite being ripe, so the FDA allows adding color to prevent negative effects on sales.
jjen TIL in 1974 a newscaster committed suicide during a live broadcast. Her last words were “In keeping with Channel 40’s policy of bringing you the latest in ‘blood and guts’, and in living color, you are going to see another first—attempted suicide.”