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TIL during China's Cultural Revolution, in one province, there were multiple gruesome instances of cannibalism (not due to hunger) motivated purely by ideological zeal

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GAeWg TIL about the Great British Dog and Cat Massacre of 1939. In which Londoners, to prepare for war with Nazi Germany, voluntarily killed over 400,000 of their home pets in a one month period so as to ease the strain on resources.
dD5YZ TIL: In India, the Gulabi Gang is a female vigilante group whose purpose is to protect women of all castes using violent and nonviolent means where the law doesn't. They wield sticks and gang up to beat abusive husbands with a "100%" success rate.
jNDER TIL the United Kingdom holds the record for the number of 2nd place finishes in the Eurovision song contest. Ireland holds the record for the number of wins, and Norway holds the record for being the worst performing country.
loGW5 TIL that one of the reasons the Piltdown Man hoax, the supposed missing link between ape and man found in Britain, fooled so many was because many European scientists, especially Britons, wanted to believe that the earliest humans came from Europe and not from Africa due to their prejudices.
5LW8 TIL US Submariners have an 18 hour ‘day’. 6 hours of work, 6 hours of rest and chores, and 6 hours of sleep.