› added 6 years ago

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TIL that the classification of “First World” initially had nothing to do with standard of living or GDP. The terms 1st, 2nd, and 3rd world were devised at the onset of the Cold War to describe nations that were either aligned to NATO (1st), aligned to the USSR (2nd), or non-aligned to either (3rd).

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mxbNo TIL a Marine Corps veteran by the name of John "Chick" Donohue snuck into Vietnam in 1967 during the ongoing war simply to deliver beer to his friends in combat.
XEBQE TIL that there is a pineapple on top of the Wimbledon trophy likely because it used to be a symbol of prestige at the time when the trophy was designed
JYApl TIL during 2005 in Glendale, CA a suicidal man parked his car in front of a commuter train. The train derailed and collided with two additional trains resulting in over a 100 casualties. The man survived and was sentenced to life without parole.
vPpBR TIL Picasso stayed in Paris throughout out WWII. During one search of his apartment, a Nazi officer saw a photograph of the painting Guernica. "Did you do that?" the German asked Picasso. "No," he replied, "You did."
VMybZ TIL about the U.S. Air Force's doomsday weapon, SLAM. The rocket was designed to fly fast and low over the Soviet Union, dropping hydrogen bombs over predetermined targets while its unshielded nuclear reactor contaminated everything in it's path.