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TIL in 2000, the destroyer USS The Sullivans was the target of a failed terror plot in the Port of Aden; the bombers’ suicide boat was so overloaded with explosives that it sank. The culprits were able to salvage the explosives, and 9 months later, used them to attack the USS Cole in the same port.

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4X0O5 TIL that up until 2013, a woman living in Paris, France could, in theory, be arrested for wearing pants (trousers) without authorization! This was the result of a forgotten local ordinance from 1800, which was abrogated on the spot for violation of gender equality.
69e7Q TIL Lemons float, but limes sink
Mj5A TIL during China’s Ming Dynasty, powdered smallpox scabs were blown up the noses of the healthy. The patients would then develop a mild case of the disease, & from then on were immune to it. Although the technique had a 0.5–2.0% mortality rate, it was better than the diseases 20–30% mortality rate.
lD17 TIL the Great Pyramid of Giza was the tallest structure in the world until the year 1300. The building that replaced it collapsed, so from 1549 to 1884 the tallest structure in the world was not the tallest ever.
P17Og TIL that a dowry was originally paid to the bride's family as compensation for the loss of her labor and reproductive potential.