› added 4 years ago

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TIL that Canberra was chosen to be the capital of Australia because neither Melbourne or Sydney would accept its rival as the permanent national capital.

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via reddit.com

1aLXD TIL the proverb, "It ain't over till the fat lady sings," derives from the traditionally buxom Valkyrie Brünnhilde from Wagner's Götterdämmerung opera. Her farewell song before the end of the world lasts almost twenty minutes and leads to the finale of the whole Ring Cycle of operas by Wagner.
1Y1W TIL the original PayPal team went on to create so many successful companies (SpaceX, Tesla, YouTube, LinkedIn), that they are called the PayPal Mafia
e0X7L TIL of Georgi Dimitrov, an influential Bulgarian antifascists communist. In 1933 he was arrested by Nazis following the Reichstag fire. He refused juridical counsel, and his defense and conduct became so famous a popular saying spread: "There is only one brave man in Germany, and he is a Bulgarian."
xjD7 TIL : In 2012, Israel ranked as the 2nd most educated country in the world (Canada was 1st).
jMxn TIL that there are no skyscrapers in Los Angeles with spires or antennas on top because the local building code requires all buildings over 75 ft have an emergency helipad