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TIL 10-20 percent of USA power outages are caused by squirrels

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E1pZX TIL when Pope John Paul II delivered a speech to the European Parliament, Ian Paisley shouted "I denounce you as the antichrist!" The former crown prince of Austria-Hungary, 77-year-old Otto von Habsburg, punched him in the face and pushed him out of the chamber.
197W TIL an obscure mathematical principle called Zipf’s law has predicted the size of mega-cities all over the world. And nobody knows why.
gMpY4 TIL the Niger River, Africa's third longest, begins only 150 miles from the Atlantic ocean, but heads inland and curves south creating a boomerang shape. 2,600 miles later, it reaches the Atlantic ocean in Nigeria.
jNbYR TIL: "Backpack nukes" weren't spy novel fiction. A veteran trained in the 60s to use one-person-portable nuclear weapons said “We all knew it was a one-way mission, a suicide mission,” since one couldn't get away in time and also such bombs weren't expected to be left unguarded before exploding.
VBZAZ TIL The Phantom of the Opera has a first name: Erik.