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TIL a pilot of a mail carrier plane once flew upside down for an extended of period of time to disorient the disgruntled employee trying to murder him and his copilot with a hammer and speargun.

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R7v7j TIL the Moscow plague riot of 1771 was caused by an outbreak of bubonic plague. The city's economy was mostly paralysed because industries had been closed down. All of this was followed by acute food shortages, leading to huge crowds rioting, and demands for the elimination of quarantines.
7BNp TIL in China you can pay someone to take your place during court trials and in jail, this is known as “Ding zui” and the Chinese govt censors information about it online
QNRwk TIL that Ringo Starr changed the lyrics of "With a Little Help From My Friends" because he feared audiences would throw tomatoes at him. The lyrics were "What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and throw tomatoes at me?"
YwEB TIL when Switzerland added a vote-by-mail option, voter turnout actually decreased in smaller cantons. Sociologists believe that in-person voting created a social pressure in smaller communities to show up at the polls, and this pressure was removed when people could claim that they voted by mail.
R71NQ TIL Israel and the United States withdrew membership from UNESCO in 2018, claiming that the organization had an anti-Israel bias.