› added 11 years ago

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TIL that the US Postal Service is eliminating mailboxes in new communities. All new communities must have central mailbox clusters like apartments have.

Read more reuters.com

via reddit.com

5YwJ8 TIL that ketchup was popular long before fresh tomatoes were. People were less hesitant to eat tomatoes as part of a highly processed product that had been cooked and infused with vinegar and spices.
Bvnk TIL that Yuri Gagarin’s heart was beating at 64 beats per minute just half an hour before the launch that would bring him to space. 64 BPM is lower than the average person’s pulse just after waking up in the morning
1aRP4 TIL during the Berlin air-lift, one USAF pilot secretly air-dropped candy to the kids below, rocking his plane so they'd know it was him flying overhead. They called him "Uncle Wiggly Wings".
oRpj7 TIL in 1971, an activist group wanted to break into an FBI office to steal draft records. They knew they couldn't pick the lock, so they left a note on the door that said, "Please don't lock this door tonight." It worked.
pkXe TIL China considers pornography to be “spiritual pollution” and has banned it since 1949. Usually the punishment is just a fine and a warning, but in 2005 the creator of China’s biggest porn site was sentenced to life in prison.