› added 9 years ago

137

TIL before alarm clocks, people were employed as “knocker uppers” to go around and knock on doors to wake people up.

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via reddit.com

kOPME TIL deep sea exploration vehicle Alvin was once attacked by a swordfish 2000 ft below the surface. The swordfish, with sword stuck in Alvin's skin, was brought to the surface with the sub. The crew then cooked it for dinner.
kOdm1 TIL Istanbul has a tremendous amount of stray and feral cats. Entire neighborhoods pitch in food and medical care for the native cats and there is a local belief, "If you kill a cat, you need to build a mosque to be forgiven by God."
wdo TIL More Vietnam War veterans committed suicide after serving than actually died in battle.
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rX4M TIL There have been 18 incidences of theft or loss of highly enriched uranium and plutonium confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency in the last 12 years.