› added 10 years ago

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TIL The official Twitter account of Sweden is given to a random Swedish citizen every week to manage.

Read more nytimes.com

via reddit.com

OoMOa TIL that during WWI, London was protected by massive lengths of steel cables suspended from observation balloons to guard against air raids. These "balloon aprons" forced pilots to fly above their range or too low to avoid AA fire.
5YX7n TIL that Scott Fahlman, an American AI researcher is credited with the creation of the :-) and :-( emoticons in 1982
WkGEX TIL that in 1993, Michael Jordan's father was murdered while taking a nap in his car.
NRxE TIL in the 1930s Benny Goodman, American jazz clarinetist and bandleader, hired prominent black musicians to play and tour with his band. This meant being banned touring in the South for breaking anti segregation laws.
JMw1 TIL that ‘Vanilla’ comes from the latin word 'Vagina’ due to the way the way the pod must be split open to expose the seeds (#3)