› added 10 years ago

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TIL that the body fat of a 440 lbs woman caught fire during cremation and almost destroyed the entire facility. Because of this, new crematories are being built to hold individuals weighing up to 1,000 lbs.

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9owp TIL North Korea has made a thriving state sponsored industry out of insurance scams for decades
LkMMZ TIL Margrethe II, the queen of Denmark, felt compelled to draw illustrations for The Lord of the Rings in the 70s and sent them to Tolkien himself. He noted her style was quite similar to his own. Her drawings were used as a basis for the illustrations in the Danish translation of the books.
OoME7 TIL in 1977 the mayor of Vulcan, WV requested foreign aid from the Soviet Union after two years of requests to the state about repairing the town's only bridge. Within an hour of a Russian journalist's arrival, the state agreed to help repair the bridge.
ogW TIL that Diana Ross, who famously sang “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, lost her ex-husband to a mountain climbing accident
Oogd4 TIL That graffiti from Pompeii survived the Vesuvius eruption. Some of the immortalized words recorded are; "Aufidius was here. Goodbye", "Samius to Cornelius: go hang yourself!" & "The one who buggers a fire burns his penis"