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TIL: USSR used nuclear bomb to stop gas well blowout in Uzbekistan

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69NXm TIL the seemingly out of place lyric in Paul Simon's 'Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes' about 'she makes the sign of the teaspoon, he makes the sign of the wave' is actually a reference to South African taxi hand signals, indicating going to a rich district and a poor district, respectively.
9YL6X TIL Bollywood actor Aamir Khan has been described by some as India’s greatest cultural export to China since Rabindranath Tagore. Khan’s movie, Secret Superstar, was a record for an Indian movie in China, eclipsing even Hollywood hits such as James Cameron’s 2010 Avatar
P1eVG TIL: An English pickle manufacturer and convert to Islam accepted an offer to become the king of the short-lived state of Islamestan in Central Asia, but before his camel train arrived at his new capital, Kashgar, the country had descended into chaos; the Soviets then reestablished Chinese control.
RKRw TIL the Golden Gate Bridge isn’t named for its own coloring but rather for the mouth of the San Francisco Bay, which was named so even before the California gold rush.
VM6e0 TIL Tailfins for cars only stuck around for a little over a decade. It started first as pointy little nubs and then as big fins peaking in 1959 with Cadillac producing the most iconic pair of tailfins ever