› added 5 years ago

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TIL that molotov cocktails are named after Soviet diplomat Vyacheslav Molotov. In the Winter War, Molotov claimed that the Soviets did not bomb the Finns, but instead were sending food supplies to starving civilians. In response Finnish soldiers dubbed petrol filled bottles Molotov's Cocktails.

OoOp6 Today I learned a cult called "The Family" believed their leader, Anne Hamilton-Byrne, was Jesus reincarnated as a female and her inner circle was the reincarnated disciples of Jesus
WkgV8 TIL 66% of Russians regret the fall of the Soviet Union. Among the reasons was the loss of feeling like they belonged to a "great power". Only a quarter of those surveyed did not regret the fall of the union.
VBWL4 TIL Claudius Ptolemy made a list of the angle in water for each number of different angle in air, as recorded on a table from 140 AD. But it was not until 1621 when Willebrord Snell found the rule connecting the two angles: sinθi=nsinθr
rlnM TIL that Angkor Wat in Cambodia is the largest religious structure in the world. It is 80 times bigger than St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City, and at least 3.5 times bigger than the Vatican City itself.
W7r5Y TIL the biggest espionage leak in US Navy history involved a spy ring of four people: leader John A. Walker, his son, his brother, & a friend. The US Navy wasn't even aware of Walker's network, which existed from 1967-1985, until his ex-wife revealed it to them after their daughter convinced her to.