› added 9 years ago

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TIL British PM Gordon Brown hand-wrote a letter of condolence to a mother whose son had died in Afghanistan where he misspelled the deceased’s surname. The Sun published a vitriolic article criticising his lack of care but misspelled the same name and was forced to publish an apology of its own

P1mLg TIL about King John of France who was captured by England in a war. Released to raise his ransom while his son Louis stayed as a hostage, John returned to captivity voluntarily when Louis escaped, stating, "If good faith were banned from the Earth, she ought to find asylum in the hearts of kings."
gaB8 TIL that pain signals sent by an irritated diaphragm will be felt in the shoulder: the stabbing sensations near the heart that are sometimes felt after consuming a fatty meal are often confused with heart attacks but are nothing more than symptoms of indigestion.
d8LBd TIL Legos last up to 1300 years, clogging up the earth’s oceans. Along with garbage such as plastic bottles and bags, ocean surfaces contain more of these plastic particles than larval fish. In commercial fishing seas, fishing nets collect over 10,000 pieces of plastic in an average 5 minute tow.
N7BXQ TIL Philip Seymour Hoffman didn't want his children to be "Trust Fund Kids" so he didn't make a trust for them, which resulted in a $12 million tax bill that he could have avoided if he made a trust and exercised proper estate planning.
NgY8 TIL rich and middle class kids are more likely to have a peanut allergy than those who are poor.