› added 7 years ago

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TIL General Patton was removed from his post in Italy during WW2 for slapping shell-shocked soldiers in the face. He was transferred to England to lead a fake regiment of inflatable tanks, which served as a distraction to convince the Germans that Normandy would not be the spot of Allied invasion.

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XE1Q6 TIL that loofah sponges come from luffa plants; a species of gourd with edible fruits. Once dried and peeled they reveal a matrix of tough fibrous tissues inside that act as wonderful natural sponges
yV8yJ TIL that the North Korean animation studio SEK has been involved in animating several western movies and TV shows, including The Simpsons Movie, several episodes of Futurama, and the Season 3 Premiere of Avatar: The Last Airbender
yQrgv TIL that in 1999 Homer Simpson was voted in a BBC News Online Poll as the 5th Greatest Star of Stage or Screen of the last 1000 years, beating Robert De Niro (6th) and Marylin Monroe (9th).
pYDrG TIL the Spanish-America war ended with a mock battle in the Philippines to save Spanish honor - they didn't want to surrender to local forces who they regarded as inferior, but to white Americans
X7ZE TIL William Kamkwamba aged 14, learnt how to build an electricity-producing windmill from spare parts and scrap from information gained in library books, after being forced to drop out of school due to poverty.