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121

TIL that the word swastika literally means “being happy.”

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XEArE TIL of Hussain al-Shahristani. An Iraqi who was forced into solitary confinement in prison for 8 years under Saddam Hussein. He kept his sanity by “making up mathematical problems, which he then tried to solve.” He later became Iraq’s minister of higher education and scientific research.
GYN5E TIL Pope Gregory IX declared that cats were associated with the devil and had them exterminated across Europe. It's believed that the disappearance of cats helped rats proliferate and spread the bubonic plague.
NXyDM TIL depression can cause blindness
Wk5BB TIL that in 1967, then Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt went missing while swimming at Cheviot Beach, Victoria, in rough conditions. He was presumed dead, although his body was never recovered.
P1xNe TIL that there are more ethnic Brits in The United States than in the United Kingdom.