› added 11 years ago

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TIL a man in China bought a first class ticket on China Eastern Airlines, went to the airport every day for almost a year, ate food for free at their lounge, changed his ticket for the next day after eating about 300 times, then cancelled his ticket for a full refund before validity expired.

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E1PnP TIL Marcel Marceau, perhaps the world’s most famous mime, was a Jewish member of the French Resistance during the Nazi occupation of France. His own father had perished in Auschwitz. He used his skills as a mime to help keep children quiet while the Resistance smuggled them to safety.
OgVe TIL that the saying ‘to take with a grain of salt" comes from Pliny the Elder, who wrote about an antidote for a certain poison, having as one of its ingredients a measure of salt. He thought that if an antidote involved salt, then the poison itself should be regarded less seriously than normal.
wn07 TIL that FIFA referees typically run 6 to 8 miles per game. All while scrutinizing plays and communicating with players and other officials.
oR5pK Today I learned that the Archbishop of York had a piece of Louis XIV's mummified heart in a locket. In 1848 he showed it to the Dean of Westminster, who ate it.
9YMnD TIL in 1953, a paper boy acquired a hollowed-out nickel containing a ciphered message while collecting for his deliveries. He told the daughter of an NYPD officer and the news got to the FBI, eventually leading to the arrest and conviction of KGB agent Vilyam Fisher four years later.