› added 4 years ago

518

TIL that there is only one Jew left in Afghanistan, Zabulon Simentov, who runs his own synagogue. The second-to-last Jew, who hated Simentov, also ran his own synagogue. The two hated interacting with each other so much that the Taliban released them after they kept fighting in custody.

Read more jta.org

via reddit.com

VMJpp TIL the "chimichanga" was created in 1922 when a Tucson restaurant cook accidentally dropped a burrito in the fryer. She was about to say "chingada" (fuck) but changed her word to "chimichanga" (thingamajig), and it stuck.
NX9N TIL candle wicks curve over on purpose. This puts the tip just (and just the tip) in reach of oxygen, effectively trimming the wick.
p8ogQ TIL the curiously named US Navy ship, USS Bonhomme Richard, is actually a playful pseudonym for Ben Franklin. It was based on Franklin’s pen-name for his “Poor Richard’s Almanac”, and French for “good man”, due to his affinity for France.
rNWLd TIL in 1996, a 21-year-old man burst into a New Zealand radio station, took the manager hostage and demanded that Kermit the Frog's rendition of Rainbow Connection be played.
aw8gA Or, why everyone is stocking up on iodine tablets