› added 10 years ago

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TIL Joan Garcia, a WW2 double-agent spying for Britain was so successful that Hitler personally awarded him an Iron Cross before King George gave him an Order of the British Empire. Germany never discovered his lies, making him one if not the only person to get such honors from both countries.

XWa6 TIL the difference between herbs and spices: herbs come from the leaf of a plant, while spices come from other parts such as roots, bark and seeds. So cilantro is an herb (coriander leaf) while coriander is a spice (coriander seed).
R74Rw TIL worth £2 million, Lampy is the oldest garden gnome in existence, made in 1847. There had been 21 of them, but the original owner's daughter hated them and tried to remove them all. She missed this one.
8a1aP TIL about Parkinson’s Law, which states that work expands to fill the time allotted. At the time used to explain the growth of bureaucracy in organizations, it helps understand today why so many projects and team fail to be productive.
1lED TIL The plane crash deaths of Stephen Colbert’s father and two brothers was the catalyst for the “sterile cockpit” rule, prohibiting flight crews from participating in any activities or conversation outside of their flying duties while the aircraft is below 10,000 feet
8aZv4 TIL that Ortona, Abruzzo, an Italian town south of Rome that's known for its red Montepulciano wine grapes, has a 24/7 fountain that dispenses wine instead of water—and it doesn't cost a cent to drink.