› added 4 years ago

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TIL that in ancient China, people believed that letting off fireworks and firecrackers could expel ghosts, ward off evils and bring about happiness and good luck.

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ddMd TIL in India there is a statue of Jesus where water was mysteriously dripping from its toes. Worshipers would collect and sometimes drink the ‘holy water’. A man traced the source of the water to a clogged toilet behind the wall condensing on the statue. He had to flee the country as a result.
vV0j TIL learned there is a gang dubbed the “The Pink Panthers” who have stolen 100’s millions of dollars from banks and jewelers in crazy fashion (dressed in drag with prosthetics, fleeing in speed boats) oh, and they broke their leader out of prison using machine gun fire and a rope ladder
jNbYR TIL: "Backpack nukes" weren't spy novel fiction. A veteran trained in the 60s to use one-person-portable nuclear weapons said “We all knew it was a one-way mission, a suicide mission,” since one couldn't get away in time and also such bombs weren't expected to be left unguarded before exploding.
YpwQd TIL: “non-dairy” products (such as CoffeeMate creamer) can still contain milk and dairy derivatives. “Non-dairy” is not defined by the FDA. However “diary free” is & products with this labeling do not contain dairy.
d805B TIL that drug overdoses killed more Americans in one year than ten years of the Vietnam War.