DQ74e TIL that 1/3 of Finnish population died of starvation due to famine during 1695-1697 making it one of the most devastating famines per capita ahead of Irish potato famine or Great Leap Forward famine in China. People resorted to eating Pine bark and their dead family members
9bLp TIL that because of the starvation and hardship endured by the Irish people during the potato famine, Ireland has been at the forefront of famine relief and its people have given more to the fundraising efforts of Live Aid per capita than any other nation in the world.
6EvwQ TIL that during the Irish Potato Famine, the poor were hired for useless construction projects called 'famine follies' in order to provide them with work that would not take existing work away from other workers. These included roads in the middle of nowhere, between two seemingly random points.
GAQ4G TIL: Famine is not a natural disaster — nearly all historical famines, such as the Irish Potato Famine, are primarily man-made.
P1kw TIL: during the Irish Potato Famine, Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid I sent three ships of food and £1,000 to the Irish - he would have sent £10,000 but Queen Victoria advised against it as she had only given £2,000
YJxW TIL at the height of the Irish Potato Famine in 1847, almost 4,000 ships carried food from Ireland to England and Scotland while 400,000 Irish died of starvation and related diseases. The same year, a Native American tribe sent $710 to help ease the suffering.
awkYb TIL "Irish goodbye" refers to a person ducking out of a party, social gathering or very bad date without bidding farewell. The phrase is attributed to the Potato Famine of 1845-1852, when many Irish fled their homeland for America. The distance and technology meant that they were gone forever.
VMVdB TIL that the term, Luck of the Irish, was originally an insult. It was said sarcastically as the Irish have historically had bad luck, such as the potato famine.
GAGG TIL that 16 years after the Choctaw people had experienced the Trail of Tears, they collected a sum of money to send to starving Irish Farmers during the Potato Famine.
eVRL TIL 16 years after the trail of tears ended, the Choctaw Indians donated 170 dollars to relief for The Irish Potato Famine