› added 9 years ago

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TIL that Kyoto was originally at the top of the atomic bomb target list during WW2, but was personally removed by U.S. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson. He had previously been to Kyoto on his honeymoon.

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yQg5w TIL that since its inception in 1970, Amtrak has never turned a profit.
LQQxd TIL about snake handling in Christianity. Members of some Christian sects in the Southern United States are regularly bitten by venomous snakes while participating in "snake handling" rituals. This ritual is inspired by a literal interpretation of the Bible verses Mark 16:17–18.
16RAr TIL that due to a former Irish crewman re-stealing his stolen booty, Welsh pirate 'Black Bart' believed all Irish were dishonest. When word got out about Barts prejudice, people he tried to force into piracy would often fake an Irish accent in order to escape a life on the high seas.
6ERk7 TIL Winston Churchill was half American. His mother, Jennie Jerome of Brooklyn, New York, later Lady Randolph Churchill, was a noted beauty of her day
0wW6N TIL that the title of Pantera's 1992 album "Vulgar Display of Power" was inspired by a line in "The Exorcist". When Father Karras asks Regan why she can't make the straps restraining her disappear if she's supposedly the devil, she replies, "That's much too vulgar a display of power, Karras."