TIL the reason many naval mines have spikes on them is because each spike contains a glass vial of battery acid. When shattered, the battery acid then energizes a lead-acid battery (which doesn't have acid inside), which then powers the detonator.
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TIL that Koreans send funeral flowers to celebrities and politicians they don't like.
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TIL although she became famous playing the "dumb blonde" role, and kept the act in all of her public appearances, Jayne Mansfield was a classicaly trained musician accomplished in violin and piano and spoke 5 languages. Her IQ is unverified but quoted numbers range from 149 to 160
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TIL: Walking Corpse Syndrome is a mental disorder where the person thinks they are dead, do not exist, or exist without organs or blood. Denial of self existence is present in about half of cases, while the other half think they’re immortal.
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TIL the conquest of the Aztec Empire by the Spanish was only possible because of support from the Tlaxcaltecs, Totonac, and other native peoples
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TIL In the 1980s, tobacco giants Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds acquired the major food companies Kraft, General Foods and Nabisco, allowing tobacco firms to dominate America’s food supply and reap billions in sales from popular brands such as Oreo cookies, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and Lunchables
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TIL that although The Great Fire of London in 1666 destroyed over 80% of the city - only six deaths were officially recorded.
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TIL Using machine learning, researchers have been able to decode what fruit bats are saying--surprisingly, they mostly argue with one another.
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TIL the inventor of the snow globe, Erwin Perzy, stumbled on the idea while trying to find a way to amplify light in surgical rooms. He found that holding a bulb next to a water globe filled with reflective, white particles boosted the light. He later used the concept to make snow scene souvenirs.
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TIL British fish and chip shops ('chippies') famously include a vinegar topping option with their fries. Oddly, the 'vinegar' sold in nearly every chippy in the UK has no actual vinegar in it. Its a mix of water, ethanoic acid and food colourings and flavourings. Many Brits are unaware of this fact.
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TIL: There was a Roman pharmacologist named Sextius Niger who wrote that you can increase sexual desire by eating salamanders that were preserved in honey. He was also head of a school of philosophy known as the School of the Sextii which recommended vegetarianism.
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TIL: That in 1970, Lula Cora Hood, a single mother of four in Illinois, vanished after a family argument. Decades later, a skeleton found in 1996 was thought to be hers. However, in 2011, 84-year-old Lula was discovered alive in Jacksonville, Florida.
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TIL several MTV Cribs episodes faked lavish celebrity lifestyles. Robbie Williams rented Jane Seymour’s house, 50 Cent borrowed Ferraris, and Kim Kardashian filmed at her mom’s place. Ja Rule’s episode led to a lawsuit after the real homeowner claimed unauthorized filming and property damage.
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TIL that there will be no Hanukkah in the year 3031, but two Hanukkahs in 3032. This is due to the overlap between the Jewish and Gregorian calendars, as well as the leap month added to the Jewish calendar.
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TIL that Québec bans dessert-like cannabis edibles because of their potential appeal to minors. The provincially-run dispensaries sell edibles like mini-sausages, ramen, nuts, and poutine sauce.
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TIL of the Arlington Ladies, a volunteer group of women who attend funerals at Arlington National Cemetery so that no soldier, sailor, airman, or coast guardsman is buried alone.
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TIL Pakistan has one of the highest consanguinity (marriage among relatives) rates in the world. In 2014 it was estimated that at least 60% of the population was married to a cousin
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TIL “most stars we see in the night sky have already died” is a popular myth. In fact, nearly all stars we see in the night sky are alive and well
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TIL Osama bin Laden historically didnt have much luck with planes. His father died in a crash in 1967 and his brother died when he flew a plane into power lines in Texas.
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TIL Asians on average have wider feet than Europeans or Americans for the same foot length, based on an analysis of 1.2 million foot scans
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TIL Lou Pai, one of Enron executives, resigned and sold his shares for $250 million to get divorced and marry a stripper. The company collapsed few months later.
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