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TIL Samoa skipped December 31, 2011

Read more theguardian.com

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MBMW TIL the during the filming of the Great Escape’s famous motorcycle chase, Steve McQueen not only did most of his own motorcycle stunts, but also did it as one of the nazis chasing his character. Thus, thru the power of editing, Steve McQueen is actually chasing himself.
0w6Ev TIL of Norman Morrison, who was a Quaker that set himself on fire under Robert McNamaras office in the pentagon. He was protesting the innocent lives that were being taken in Vietnam at the time. The city Da Nang has road named after Morrison in memory of his acts against the US-Vietnam conflict.
wD67 TIL Quinoa is so nutritionally dense and complete that it is being considered a possible crop in NASA’s Controlled Ecological Life Support System for long-duration manned space expeditions.
l1Kr TIL the Supreme Court Ruled that Stripping Someone of Citizenship is ‘Cruel and Unusual’ Punishment, Prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution
EgQD7 TIL Mehmet Ali Ağca was an escaped murderer who fired four bullets at Pope John II in 1981. Two of the shots entered the Pope's torso but did not hit vital organs. Mehmet had already been convicted of murdering a Turkish Newspaper editor but had escaped after six months.