› added 8 years ago

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TIL Somali General Mohamed Farrah Aidid’s son, Hussein Farrah Aidid, emigrated to the USA when he was 14. He would later join the Marines & be stationed in Somalia as translator during Operation Restore Hope, the mission that targeted his father. Upon his father’s death, he was chosen as successor

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wGa7 TIL that the pledge of allegiance in schools was conceived by a businessman who wanted to sell flags.
e0456 TIL That in 1992, A North Dakotan teen, John Thompson, was home alone when he had both of his arms chopped off by a tractor in a freak farming accident. However, he still managed to get up, go inside, and dial for help via holding a pencil in his mouth. He survived.
Wk699 TIL of Pigasus, a pig nominated for US Presidency in 1968. The anti-war activists responsible demanded treatment as candidate, including security and access to briefings. Pigasus and his team were finally arrested during a "rally" and charged with disturbing the peace and bringing a pig to Chicago.
wowr6 TIL Tetrachromats (mostly women) can distinguish upto 100 million colours since they posses a 4th type of cone cell , apart from having the regular RBG cone cells
oBkVo TIL that the Black Knight from Monty Python was based on a real person: Arrichion of Phigalia, a Greek wrestler who famously refused to give up during a particularly tough wrestling match. He died during the match, but still won because his opponent surrendered, not realizing he was dead.