› added 11 years ago

80

TIL That Mao ordered the Chinese to eradicate mosquitos, rats, flies, and sparrows. Because the sparrows ate seeds, he felt they were eating unearned food, thus, they represented Capitalism. They killed so many sparrows the Eco imbalance contributed to a famine that killed 20 million people.

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kOkAE TIL KFC's founder Colonel Sanders would pay unexpected visits to K.F.C. franchises in order to inspect them, and would often swear and bang his cane on whatever furniture was available if the gravy was't tasty enough.
0Eyp TIL Navy SEALs began as a Naval Combat Demolition Unit eliminating obstacles on enemy-held beaches at Normandy prior to invasion. The NCDUs at Omaha Beach blew 8 complete gaps and 2 partial gaps in the German defenses by clearing 700 yds of beach in 2 hours, another 900 yds by the afternoon.
9YpbX TIL - Alien Hand Syndrome where "A 77-year-old woman [observed] her left hand moving without her knowledge while watching television. Her left hand stroked her face and hair as if somebody was controlling it."
6mEw TIL in 1993, The Barbie Liberation Organization challenged gender stereotypes by switching the voice boxes of hundreds of Barbie and G.I. Joe dolls and ‘reverse shoplifting’ them back into stores. Barbies would yell, “Eat lead, Cobra!” while G.I. Joes would ask, “Want to go shopping?”.
ADPv4 TIL singer Edwyn Collins suffered a cerebral hemorrhage which left him able to say only four things: "yes", "no", "Grace Maxwell" (his wife's name) and "the possibilities are endless"