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TIL that gays in Hong Kong started using the word "comrade" (同志) in the '80s as a way to spite the Chinese Communist Party for its mistreatment of sexual minorities in the mainland. Today, it is one of the primary terms LGBT people in the Chinese-speaking world use to refer to one another.

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via reddit.com

grMwX TIL about baseball player Wally Pipp, who, when getting a headache had to remove himself from a game. A 22-year-old named Lou Gehrig stepped in. He didn't step out for another 2,130 games. The streak ended with Gehrig taking himself out of the lineup due to a mysterious fatigue.
xOOk TIL of a Shabbat elevator. These elevators stop at every floor so that Jews won’t have to press buttons on the Sabbath since pressing buttons is considered ‘doing work’.
aWP9 TIL that the cast and crew of Borat nearly started a riot during the filming of the rodeo scene where Borat sings the (made up) Kazakhstan national Anthem to the tune of the American national anthem.
Mwyb TIL Lexington Kentucky accepts canned food as payment for parking fines to feed the homeless.
GYbdj TIL: Scotland's Duncraig station was grudgingly re-opened 11 years after it was closed because local train drivers simply refused to accept that it had been closed.