› added 11 years ago

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TIL that East Germany lives on - as a tiny island off Cuba. In 1972, Fidel Castro gifted the island to East Germany. The island was not addressed in the 1990 reunification, and as such is still technically East German territory, even though the nation no longer exists.

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X05ZD TIL Whale oil was used as the main ingredient in budget margarine during and after WWII until about 1955 when rationing was ended and alternative ingredients were available.
X0jJX TIL The British project to develop atomic bombs, known as High Explosive Research (HER), was a civil project, not a military one. Staff were drawn from and recruited into the Civil Service, and were paid Civil Service salaries.
5VxOQ TIL Sutton's law of medicine is to go with the obvious diagnosis first. The law is based on a supposed interview with bank robber Willie Sutton where he explained why he robbed banks by saying "because that's where the money is."
XEAOk TIL When Gordon Ramsay filmed one of his cooking shows in a prison, he challenged an inmate to an onion chopping competition. The inmate won. When he was released from prison, Ramsay hired him to work in one of his restaurants in London
OZ8a TIL 3 people were hanged for the 1660 murder of William Harrison in the year 1661. In 1662, William Harrison returned on a ship after escaping slavery, having been kidnapped by pirates. This lead to the “no body, no murder” rule.