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TIL after the Chinese Civil War, several units of the Nationalist army fled to Burma. When recalled to Taiwan, some refuse and marched into Thailand, where they grew opium while fighting Communists for the government. Their village is now "one of Thailand's top ten destinations among backpackers."

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oB08o TIL: The Statue That Offended New York was a nickname for a realistic nude sculpted by Augustus Saint-Gaudens that circa 1900 stood on the city's highest point. A critic said the nearby park's character changed: kids displaced by "club men...with field glasses.” (The art was later sent to a museum.)
4wag TIL 30 men were drafted to burn the bodies of those that died from ebola in Liberia, where cremation is a huge cultural taboo. Despite playing a large role in stopping the outbreak the 30 “ebola burners” are still shunned in their communities and even by their families.
e00xk TIL "Paralyzed" by Legendary Stardust Cowboy is one of the few songs to be banned by NASA
R7y67 TIL that the non-existent Kingdom of Araucanía and Patagonia has had pretenders to the throne from 1860 to the present day
mPAE TIL the New Horizons space probe, which is scheduled to reach Pluto in July 2015, has on board the ashes of Clyde Tombaugh, who discovered the planet in 1930.