› added 8 years ago

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TIL an illegally imported DVD of Titanic helped North Korean defector Yeonmi Park realize the oppressive nature of the North Korean government and gave her “a taste of freedom”

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OoAaL TIL that charity sky dives - on average - cost more money for the health service than they make. Each pound raised for charity cost the NHS £13.75 in return due to injuries picked up by people doing charity sky dives.
O9Y4 TIL there is a remote village in China where many of the inhabitants have blue/green eyes and fair hair. Researchers now believe the villagers may have descended from a legion of Roman soldiers who escaped from a doomed battle in ancient Parthia.
wLymW TIL that some "Negative Ion" products may contain varying minerals from volcanic ash and titanium to less familiar ones such as tourmaline, zeolite, germanium and monazite sand. They may also contain naturally occurring radioactive elements, including uranium and thorium.
J1ykv TIL that our DNA is full of genes that no longer work. Called pseudogenes, many have "good" versions in other species. For example GULO allows most animals to make their own vitamin C. Our version is GULOP, and is broken. Freakily, there are about as many pseudogenes as working genes in human DNA.
j9Aa TIL Men in India receive a free gun licence if they get a vasectomy