› added 6 years ago

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TIL American politician and former vice president Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814) argued against the idea of a standing army, comparing it to a standing penis: "An excellent assurance of domestic tranquility, but a dangerous temptation to foreign adventure."

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7rnmZ TIL In 1917, owners of the Phelps Dodge mining company kidnapped 1,300 striking mineworkers in Bisbee, Arizona, their supporters and bystanders, deported them via a 16 hour train ride across the desert with no food and little water and told them never to come back.
pxQb TIL Chinese government takes its officials and members of their families on prison tours on a regular basis to give officials an introduction to what awaits them if they should engage in corruption. The tours include meet-and-greets with former government officials who were caught for corruption.
EexV Today I learned that by smiling, (fake or not) you actually speed up your recovery from stressful situations.
Y6LB TIL that It’s a crime to mime in China
kOOr4 TIL that the first artificial ice rink stank and was made from pig fat.