› added 9 years ago

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TIL that the Chief Translator for the European Parliament can speak 32 different languages fluently

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7Jk7 TIL: Some cash machines in London have a Cockney language setting.
v1dy4 TIL a meteor reportedly fell right on the battlefield during a war between Pontus and Rome. According to Plutarch, the sky suddenly split apart and a large silvery-hot meteor resembling a giant hogshead bombarded the ground between the armies. Both forces promptly withdrew to fight another day.
MewE0 TIL The Stratton Oakmont firm (of Wolf of Wall Street fame) sued Prodigy ISP for a post on their forums discussing potential fraud surrounding the IPO of Solomon Page Ltd.
NXV6P TIL a sultan of Morocco, Isma‘il ibn Sharif, owned a private army called "The Black Guard" comprised of West African and Haratin slave-soldiers. Considered more loyal than the locals because of their lack of tribal affiliation, Isma‘il's black soldiers formed the bulk of his army, numbering at 150k.
D18vD TIL that The smell of fresh-cut grass is a signal of distress.