› added 7 years ago

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TIL the French secret service planted mines on a Greenpeace ship, sinking it and killing one person.

Read more theguardian.com

via ift.tt

JYKy4 TIL Germany started using jury trials the Middle Ages, but a constitutional crisis in 1924 led to an emergency decree abolishing juries and replacing them with the mixed system of judges and lay judges that is still used today.
0nd1 TIL that subscribers with female names to pay online pornography sites are flagged as likely sources of credit-card fraud, because “so many of these charges result in an angry wife or mother demanding a refund for the misuse of her card”.
LkRxp TIL Fondue was popularized in Switzerland by the Swiss Cheese Union as a ploy to increase cheese consumption. They created and promoted recipes for the ""spiritual defence of Switzerland".
PYVKw TIL The National Archives sells a replica of the Resolute desk for $8000.
JVeV TIL that part of Pablo Escobars surrender deal was that he would serve his sentence in his own prison, guarded by his own guards. The prison also had a soccer field, a bar, a jacuzzi, and a waterfall amongst many other things.