› added 12 years ago

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TIL that during the Nazi occupation of Greece, the mayor of the island of Zakynthos was ordered to make a list with the names of all Jews on the island. The list handed over to the Nazis contained two names: the mayor’s and the islands Bishop. All Zakynthos Jews survived the Holocaust.

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BrBjL TIL in Soviet Russia North, at mornings drivers made a fire under engines their trucks for about two hours, before starting the engine. There were two options: never cut off the engine and run it 24/7 or make a fire. Otherwise, oil would freeze.
b9B9N TIL a village in Mexico, besieged by crime and corruption, cleaned up by blockading the town from criminals and kicking out the mayor, police, and all political parties. Electioneering is banned. Now, the town is self-governed and policed, offers recycling services, and protects the local forests.
j61jX TIL that each prime number (except 2 and 3) is next to a multiple of six.
PYEAg TIL that azurite was commonly used as a blue pigment in middle age and Renaissance paintings, but it oxidates at some point and turns into malachite. So the blue parts made from azurite in those paintings are now green.
j6Eyp TIL that some of the earliest schools in Massachussets and Virginia in the 1640s were desegregated (Black students were taught alongside white students)