› added 6 years ago

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TIL that a 10 year old American girl became penpals with the a general and de facto leader of Panama and her family was shamed by America for it.

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via reddit.com

4kaZa TIL that under the Invention Secrecy Act, the U.S. government can prevent certain patent applications from being disclosed if they deem the invention a threat to national security. Inventors can be prohibited from sharing or profiting from their own creations without even knowing why.
7rD8M TIL the former US president has 7 species named after him in honor, and the current one has 1 primarily because of resemblance
QJnE TIL that in the 1800’s dummy houses were built in London to disguise the underground system in wealthy areas.
nelE7 TIL that witnessing 9/11 had such a profound effect on aspiring comic book artist Gerard Way, that it inspired him to start a band and write their first song. My Chemical Romance would not exist if 9/11 had never happened.
OGaEa TIL the gold ball at the top of a US flag pole is called a ‘finial ball’ and traditionally contains a razor blade, match, and a single bullet.