› added 4 days ago

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TIL That Christmas Tree Tinsel was originally made from Sliver, but because sliver tarnishes quickly, many people decorated their trees with Lead Tinsel. This practice continued into the 1960s.

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vPm78 TIL that Australia uses Polymer bank notes that are waterproof and notoriously hard to counterfeit due to its complex design.
gMLby TIL that professional footballer Manfred Starke is actually a Namibian native and plays for their national team
d8Kk7 TIL Anthony Perkins (Norman Bates in "Psycho"), discovered he was HIV positive after reading an article by the National Enquirer claiming he was. It's suspected someone illegally obtained his blood samples and had them tested for the virus, leaking the news to the tabloids.
Qmwa TIL that long before creating Star Trek, 26-year-old Gene Roddenberry was a co-pilot aboard a Pan Am plane that crashed in the Syrian Desert. With several broken ribs, he helped save 22 people and eventually led them to safety.
VrkD TIL In 1996 the infamous serial killer ‘The Yorkshire Ripper’ was almost strangled to death in custody, before being saved by serial killer Kenneth Erskine aka 'The Stockwell Strangler’.