› added 11 years ago

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TIL that, outside of Washington, D.C., a Virginia man built a castle to be fully defensible in the case of nuclear Armageddon. Built entirely by its owner, it has three heating systems and a maze of underground conduits, and it has been used as a meeting place for a group of self-professed vampires.

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via reddit.com

kJYMW TIL A working class neighbourhood in Zurich became a red-light district in the 1970s. As more people left their villages and moved to the city, it was easier and more profitable to rent out small apartments to prostitutes rather than use them as housing
NXgMN TIL of the 21 demands. Demands made during WW1 from Japan to China which effectively puppets it. China leaked it to the US and UK who pressured successfully for Japan to drop the most extreme demand.
RQa6 TIL that the Netherlands used to flood certain areas in times of war to create a military defensive line. The water was too shallow for boats, but deep enough to hide traps and ditches under.
gM0v7 TIL that “Tonto” the name of the Lone Ranger’s Indian sidekick, means “fool” in Spanish.
Wo7N TIL Lance Von Allmen developed an oil containment system that uses chemically treated cellulose to perfectly absorb crude oil in water, and then wring the cellulose to get all of the crude oil back. He died a year after this aired. WHY wasn’t this used to clean up Deepwater Horizon?