› added 10 years ago

94

TIL that during the 1979 Grand Mosque Seizure of Mecca by Islamic Insurgent, a french special commando briefly converted to Islam in order to respect the rules forbidding non-muslims to enter the “holy city” and then intervene.

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MrdK TIL that experiment participants invited to eat soup ate 73% more soup if (unknown to them) their bowl was attached to a pump and vat of soup that refilled their bowl as they ate.
wLKPJ TIL the Nazi greeting was so widespread in Germany by the mid-1930s that department store employees greeted customers with, "Heil Hitler, how may I help you?"
ZpGWR TIL that the only renewable energy source in Hong Kong is the Lamma Winds Wind Farm, which actually only consists of a single 800 kW wind turbine. It is a tourist attraction and only generates enough power for 250 households "in ideal conditions".
P01L TIL that the main reason for such a high percentage of Americans being behind bars is that 95% of cases never get to court. The “plea bargain” exchanges lighter sentences for guilty pleas, but eliminates all chance of appeal.
M7LYV TIL there’s a secret material called FOGBANK that is used in nuclear warheads. "The material is classified. Its composition is classified. Its use in the weapon is classified, and the process itself is classified.”