› added 12 years ago

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TIL that Sweden and Denmark have fought more wars between them than any other two nations, even beating out France and England.

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via reddit.com

dDjZE TIL that Henry Knox, namesake of Fort Knox where much of the US’ gold reserves are stored, ran a number of failed business ventures and accumulated large amounts of debt. When he died after swallowing a chicken bone, he left an estate that was bankrupt.
0dN8L TIL: A Virginia Beach woman produced $31.8 million in counterfeit coupons. She was sentenced to 12 years in prison “perpetrating a counterfeit coupon fraud scheme”. Her husband was sentenced to 7 years in prison because he was aware of and profited from the scheme.
R5j1j TIL that in 2012, a group of Saudi ghost hunters conducted a mas surprise raid on haunted sites in Saudi Arabia to look for djinn (Muslim mythological creatures similar to ghosts). The raids were initially successful, but were later foiled by Saudi police and 200 people were arrested.
QNEoX TIL that Sark is one of the few remaining places in the world where cars are banned from roads and only tractors and horse-drawn vehicles are allowed, and that in 2011, Sark was designated as the first Dark Sky Island in the world.
E1mjw TIL that in WW2, US used Native Americans for message encryption. They were called "code talkers" as they simply talked in their native language for transmitting the messages. This allowed fast communication over open channels as enemy was unable to break this code. Was crucial in winning the war.