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TIL Kevin Mitnik served 8 months of his prison sentence in solitary confinement because the judge believed that if allowed access to a telephone Mitnik could start a nuclear war by just whistling into it.

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NkZb TIL Ireland is the only country in the world that has a lower population today than they did in 1841. Ireland’s population in 1841 was 8.2 million - today it’s population is only 6.4 million. Still showing the long-lasting effects of the Great Famine
LQjE9 TIL of Užupis, a self-proclaimed independent nation that declared its independence on April Fool's. Included in the Constitution are "everyone has the right to love a cat" and "a dog has the right to be a dog."
1apmD TIL that not all Norse soldiers who die in battle go to Odin’s hall, Valhalla. Half go to Freyja’s field, Fólkvangr, which has a different hall: Sessrúmnir. Freyja rides a chariot pulled by two cats and occasionally rides her boar, Hildisvíni (who is actually her protégé Óttar, disguised).
GA1Q4 TIL a 2003 publication by the Infectious Diseases Society of America noted that The Andromeda Strain is the "most scientifically accurate of all films of this [killer virus] genre ... it accurately details the appearance of a deadly agent, its impact, and the efforts at containing it.
eMQE TIL a Canadian Senator once read his favorite book in its entirety during a filibuster so that it would be translated into French in the Canadian Hansard (debate transcript) for free.