› added 4 years ago

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TIL pope Benedict IX is the only person who has been pope on more than one occasion. He was notorious for selling the papacy and reclaiming the office afterwards twice, making him pope three times in 1032 to 1044, from April to May 1045 and from 1047 to 1048.

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9Yrmr TIL that in the early 1990s, New York City's Metro Transit Authority had a mascot for their new MetroCard service (that replaced tokens) - the Caardvark
1rE4 TIL that between 30 and 50 per cent of the global population is thought to be infected by a cat parasite known as Toxoplasma gondii. Some scientists believe that the parasite can control the brain of it’s host. A toxo-infected person is more than twice as likely to be in a car accident.
XE5O6 TIL founder and former-CEO of blood test diagnostics firm Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes, who has been accused of massive fraud against investors, doctors and patients, is the daughter of a former executive at ENRON, one of the biggest corporate frauds in history.
5YrOk TIL An elderly man in China tried to buy a train ticket using currency not in circulation since 1949. He wanted to pay for a train ticket costing 12.5 yuan with a 500 yuan banknote and was informed his 1943 note is no longer legal tender. They are now worth over $100
AGPw TIL when Soviet Minister Molotov stated that the cluster bombs being dropped on Finland were actually food, the Finns began sarcastically calling the bombs “Molotov bread baskets,” which they responded to with their own “Molotov cocktails,” as “a drink to go with the food.”