› added 9 months ago

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TIL that for thirteen years, Rio de Janeiro functioned as the capital of the United Kingdom of Portugal, making it the only European capital to ever exist outside of Europe.

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Br18D TIL in 2015, there were only 14 murders in the entire state of New Hampshire, making it the state with lowest rate of murder per capita at just 1.1 per 100,000.
ne0JG TIL early WWII torpedoes were so unreliable that on one patrol, the USS Tinosa fired 15 torpedoes with only 2 exploding. Earlier, the USS Sargo fired 13 torpedoes with zero successes.
8exnZ TIL the “Boss key” was a fairly common feature in early PC games to make it appear to superiors and coworkers that employees are doing their job when they are actually playing video games.
YpPr TIL the Leaning Tower of Pisa was almost destroyed by the Allied Forces because it was being used as an observation post by Germany. A soldier who was sent to confirm the use by the Germans prevented the airstrike that would have destroyed it because he was impressed by the beauty of it.
e8p4 TIL at the 1912 Olympics, a marathon runner quit and went home to Japan without telling officials and was considered a missing person in Sweden for 50 years. In 1966, he was invited to complete the marathon. His time: 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes and 20.379 seconds.