› 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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5Y7AQ TIL during Hurricane Katrina, hundreds of prisoners were left to die in their cells. They had no food or water for days, as waters rose to their chests. There were no lights and the toilets were backed up. Many were evacuated, but 517 went unaccounted for.
0wo7R TIL during world War II, the army would pour ice cold water in the ear of "draft dodgers" who pretended to be deaf. The normal response is to turn the eyes to the ear with cold water (Caloric reflex. About half of deaf lack this reflex). No response = truly deaf. Response = Possible draft dodger.
4Xw0b TIL Billy Bob Thornton did get drunk for scenes in Bad Santa. In the escalator fall scene Thornton actually passed out after drinking 3 glasses of red wine for breakfast followed by vodkas and cranberry juice then a few Bud Lights.
PYo0n TIL that The Pyramid of Menkaure, one of the three Great Pyramids on the Giza Plateau, was attempted to be Destroyed by the Son of Saladin, after 8 months they were Only able to create a Gash in the Pyramid.
ep59k TIL of the Great Raft - a log jam that was over 175 miles in length. It was so massive it led to the formation of several lakes in Louisiana, shaped hundreds of miles of farmland around it, and took 5 years for the Corp of Engineers to clear in the 1830s.