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TIL The gavel used by the UN President is called "Thor's gavel" as it was gifted to the UN by Iceland's first permanent UN representative Thor Thors

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via reddit.com

kOxgW TIL that California Governor Leland Stanford Sr. lost his only child to Typhoid. Because of this, Stanford Sr. decided to honor his dead son by spending his fortune to build Stanford University, telling his wife that "the children of California shall be our children".
rNdQy TIL the Cold War was partially prompted by an event in Ottawa when a Soviet cipher clerk working at the Soviet embassy to Canada defected & exposed the Soviet spy network in Canada, leading to allied countries discovering Soviet spies & informants within their own governments
0wDjy TIL that the F.B.I. and C.I.A. recruit heavily from the Mormon population because they are usually cheaper to do a security clearance on, they often speak another language from their mission trips and they usually have a low risk lifestyle.
VMmW0 TIL that the beloved British dish of fish&chips was the result of Portugeuse Jews fleeing the Inquisition and bringing their fried fish dish and potatoes losing their bad reputation as gross and poisonous, becoming a European staple.
16B17 TIL that Kalawao County on the North Coast of Moloka'i in Hawaii is the smallest US County by area (12 sq miles of land) and 2nd smallest by population (82) after Loving County in Texas. It is a former Leper Colony that permits no new permanent residents and only allows visitors from official tours.