› added 10 years ago

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TIL that in 1937 a bomb was dropped on Shanghai by a Chinese plane in an attempt to lighten its load while being pursued by Japanese planes. The bomb hit two department stores, killing 612 people and injuring another 482

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X0kE6 TIL Rani-ki-Vav is an inverted, underground temple in India from the 11th century going 30m deep through a series of seven levels of stairs and four pavilions. With 1,500 sculptures designed to honor the sanctity of water, it is one of the best known examples of subterranean water architecture
V8eD TIL The reason hurricanes and cyclones have human names is that the original meteorologist to name them, Clement Wragge, began naming them after politicians he didn’t like. This let him say they were ‘causing great distress’ or 'wandering aimlessly’.
nYjo TIL game designer Will Wright was inspired to create a “virtual doll house” after losing his home during the Oakland firestorm of 1991. Replacing his home and his other possessions made him think about adapting that life experience into a game, The Sims.
DQ0vP TIL that when Charles Guiteau bought the gun he would use to assassinate President Garfield, he chose one with a more expensive ivory handle, thinking it would look better in a museum. Though the gun was given to the Smithsonian, it has since been lost.
j6PVn TIL Gerry Rafferty, famous for the song Baker Street and stuck in the middle with you with Steelers Wheel, was once in a folk-pop duo with famous Scottish comedian Billy Connolly .