› added 5 years ago

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TIL of the Kiplingcotes Derby, the world's oldest horse race (1519). The rules state it must be run every year or never be run again. The weather has threatened the race several times, causing a single rider to lead a horse around the track to prevent the race from being canceled permanently.

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WkPJ4 TIL that for three months a man named Kasongo Ilunga was the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Minister of Trade and vice president of the UNAFEC Party despite, apparently, not actually existing.
E1Y0p TIL there is only one photo of Neil Armstrong on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 11 mission but his back is to the camera, rendering it unusable & as a result, all of the widely circulated/most iconic photos of an Apollo 11 astronaut on the moon are actually of Buzz Aldrin.
NXGGM TIL the Carlton Tavern, based in London, was demolished by its owners after failing to obtain the necessary planning permission. The council subsequently ordered the pub to be rebuilt brick by brick. The pub was the only building in the street to survive the Blitz during WW2. It reopened in 2021.
g9LX TIL that Charles Muntz, the villian from Up, was named after Charles Mintz. A man who tried to sue Walt Disney over Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
vPXBR TIL During WW2, Juan Pujol Garcia, an apparent Spanish businessman, played a role in convincing the Nazis that the Allies were planning to stage the majority of the landings in Pas de Calais, rather than the Normandy coast. Garcia was working for the British intel., who referred to him as Garbo