› added 1 month ago

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TIL Carlos Mavroleon, heir to a shipping tycoon, was pressumed dead after a trip to France. He ended up in Pakistan and returned home 2 years later, now a muslim and fluent in Pashtun. He mingled in high society, left again to fight the soviets in Afghanistan, and later became a war correspondent

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4d6b TIL on 1st of June 2001 the heir to the Nepalese throne - Prince Dipendra shot and killed several members of the royal family (while intoxicated) including his parents - the reigning King and Queen. This eventually lead to the abolishment of the Kingdom of Nepal.
gMyX7 TIL in 2001, two Japan Airlines aircraft carrying a total of 677 people were sent on a collision course by a trainee controller and his supervisor. The two planes only took evasive action after visually spotting each other, narrowly avoiding collision by 135 meters (443 feet).
NXnlN TIL Between 1973 and 1980, about 1000 cases of bismuth-related neurotoxicity were reported in France, resulting in a ban on bismuth compounds.
5dLk TIL Mr. Rogers joined Television because he hated it and decided to change it.
r0y0 TIL: In olden times, homes had thatched roofs in which domestic animals such as cats and dogs would like to hide. In heavy rain, the animals would either be washed out of the thatch, or rapidly abandon it for better shelter, so it would seem to be raining cats and dogs