› added 10 years ago

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TIL there are 12,000 properties designated “severe repetitive loss” properties for which “the flood insurance program has paid the owners for four significant flood claims, two within one decade”, helping to contribute to “about $24 billion in debt and taxpayers are left to pay the claims”

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OoDDg TIL The Queen of England's guard wear tall bear skin hats because at the Battle of Waterloo, English troops took them as a trophy from France. They were worn by Napoleon's elite guard, which England routed during the Battle.
xdpw TIL that Big Bird’s “imaginary” friend, Snuffleupagus, was only outed as real to the adults on the series (after 17 seasons) due to a string of high-profile news stories about sexual abuse of children.
vPVK8 TIL that after a farm accident the dying farmer scratched his last will and testament onto a tractor fender, the tractor he was pinned under, and that fender was removed and submitted to the courts and ultimately found to be a valid will.
P10EZ TIL about Victoria Woodhull, the first female presidential candidate in U.S. history, who was a suffragist, women's rights advocate, entrepreneur, and political activist. Her campaign encountered obstacles due to her age and imprisonment on obscenity charges just before the election.
kO7Re TIL in Japan couples and close family members use Mimikaki, a wooden stick with a hook to clear out each others ears. This is seen as both a show of trust and affection.