GAaDj TIL that the Saint Lucia Racer is considered the rarest snake in the world with only about 18-40 individuals left, surviving on two tiny islands after invasive predators wiped them out on the mainland.
164rd TIL "Dry Cleaning" isn't actually dry, it just washes with a solvent rather than water
oR0eE TIL Edmund Fitzgerald, namesake of the ship lost with all hands in a Lake Superior storm in November 1975, had a great uncle named Edmond Fitzgerald who also had a ship named after him. The Edmond Fitzgerald was lost with all hands in a Lake Erie storm in November 1883
dDgxB TIL that Longyearbyen is named after John Munro Longyear, an American. He established the first mine in Svalbard in 1906 and established Longyear City.
KY1Da TIL The average member of Congress spends between 30-70% of their time fundraising
a8bJb TIL in Ancient Egypt, killing a cat was regarded as a serious crime. In the years between 60 and 56 BC, outraged people lynched a Roman for killing a cat, although pharaoh Ptolemy XII Auletes tried to intervene.
ZpbJo TIL German citizens, upon reaching their 100th birthday, receive a letter of congratulations from their president.
786ox TIL the 8th Wisconsin "Iron Brigade" brought a live bald eagle into battle during the civil war. He went on to live at the Wisconsin State House until he died after a fire. It's still used by the 101st Airborne Division as a mascot.
kJb6g TIL about the Iron Scow, a barge that broke loose in 1918 and nearly went over Niagara Falls with its crew still onboard.
Eg70p TIL the numeral system we use today was invented by Indian mathematicians (1st–4th c.), adopted and expanded by Arabic scholars in the 9th c., and spread to Europe by the Middle Ages, mainly used in Northern Italy until the printing press.
Y7bJW TIL that Abraham Lincoln rejected a proposed marriage arrangement because the girl was too fat. "Her present bulk" was so great, according to Lincoln, that he believed her to be far older than her stated age, as her skin was "too full of fat to permit of its contracting into wrinkles."
BgY7b TIL Edmund Fitzgerald, namesake of the ship lost with all hands in a Lake Superior storm in November 1975, had a great uncle Edmond Fitzgerald who also had a ship named after him, which was lost with all hands in a Lake Erie storm in November 1883