› added 11 years ago

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TIL parts of France were so devastated in WWI they were declared permanently uninhabitable: zone rouge.

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69r4J TIL in 2011 a man survived an accident where he fell on the nozzle of a high pressure air hose, which pierced his left buttock & rushed air into his body at 100 pounds per square inch. He was inflated to twice his normal size with the air separating his fat from his muscles & compressing his heart.
8a9LL TIL Norway is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It has a 'sovereign fund' of $1 trillion, around $200,000 for each of it's 5 million citizens to support future generations.
PYKyO TIL Hawaiian King Kamehameha IV was shocked when in America, a train conductor mistook him for the servant: "The first time that I have ever received such treatment, not in England or France or anywhere else... In England an African can pay his fare and sit alongside Queen Victoria."
W7BmY TIL a Galápagos tortoise believed extinct since 1906 was rediscovered in 2022 on a remote island.
oBQRY TIL there are only 15 countries (sovereign states, not dependencies) in the world without official armed forces. Out of these, 12 are islands. Only Andorra, Vatican City, and Liechtenstein are located on mainland. The largest population is held by the Solomon Islands with a little over 650,000.