› added 9 years ago

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TIL The red cross is actually a Swiss flag with the red and white inverted, and does not have roots in christanity.

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J1rwv TIL that a Canadian engineer (Gerald Bull), in a quest to economically launch satellites using a huge artillery piece helped fund this project by creating a supergun for Saddam Hussein's government in Iraq. He was subsequently assassinated by Mossad.
JY78V TIL: Britain only finally settled its World War II debts to the US and Canada in December 2006 making payments of $83.25m (£42.5m) to the US and US$22.7m (£11.6m) to Canada.bbb
JY0N1 TIL that during the Civil Rights Movement, Louis Armstrong "blew his top" in an interview about the segregationist governor of Arkansas, referring to him as a "motherfucker" and singing an F-bomb-laced rendition of the national anthem.
1a44P TIL that a man in Idaho went on vacation, and returned to find that a bear broke into his condo through a second story door, ate food, and defecated on his carpet. He closed the door to keep the bear away, but the bear then tried to enter through the cat door, only managing to poke its head in
gMdEW TIL about Alana Saarinen, the girl with three biological parents. Alana’s nuclear DNA is from her mother and father, with mitochondrial DNA from another woman. This procedure has now been banned due to safety and ethical concerns.