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TIL that in the 1950s there was a British plan to plant nuclear mines in Germany to prevent a potential Soviet invasion with the mines being kept warm in the winter using live chickens. The idea was considered so outlandish it when it was declassified it was thought to be an April Fools joke..

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MjdV TIL that in 1947 Canadian kids started a “strike”, refusing to pay 8 cents for a candy bar whose price had gone up from 5 cents overnight. The movement spread throughout the country, but fizzled when people suspected it of being orchestrated by Communists. The candy remained at 8 cents.
xMXg TIL that the snow you see on analog televisons is a signal caused partially by the cosmic radiation of the Big Bang
7rxyO TIL while Victoria Beckham said that she designed a car that she wanted to drive when she took part in creating her own edition of the Range Rover Evoque, Beckham only drove that model of the Evoque 1400 miles in three years, and reportedly sold it because she didn't have an use for it.
NkdM TIL after meeting a homeless veteran in 2011, a UC Berkeley Student created an app called Feeding Forward that connects events with surplus food to those in need. One IT convention had enough leftovers to feed more than 4,279 people at eight different shelters and food banks.
BreyD TIL Nintendo experimented with a modem add-on for the NES that would allow Minnesota residents to play the state lottery on their NES. They also had plans to enable stock trading and online gaming. The idea was scrapped however, because it was thought it would encourage underage gambling.