› added 11 years ago

69

TIL that in a siege against a gallic city, Julius Caesar actually built a second wall around the city to keep its occupants from leaving.

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OGnj7 TIL that mitochondria likely exist in cells today because a more complex cell engulfed the smaller mitochondrion around 1.45 billion years ago. It’s been successful symbiosis ever since.
MemgV TIL that in 1940, the Nazis sent 12 spies to Britain to pave the way for an invasion. However, the plan failed due to the ineptitude of the agents. None of them were that fluent in English and they lacked basic knowledge of British customs.
grmlW TIL Calvin Coolidge called Americans and Russians "traditional friends" in his first radio address in December 1923. The Russian Empire supported the Patriots in the American Revolution, and the Union in the US Civil War in the 1700s-1800s.
X586 TIL Seth McFarlane was a writer for some of Cartoon Network’s most iconic shows, like Johnny Bravo and Dexter’s Laboratory
e0jVk TIL in 1997 BBC TV soap EastEnders broadcast episodes set in Ireland, which were criticised for negatively stereotyping the Irish as dirty, rude, poor and drunk. Complaints were upheld by the British Broadcasting Standards Commission and the BBC apologised for the episodes