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TIL that Strangler figs start their life as a seed on a tree branch, usually left there by an animal. As they grow, their long roots grow down along the trunk of the host tree, eventually engulfing the host tree trunk and cutting off its nutrient and water supply.

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nW6rd TIL in 2019, the Netherlands became the first country to completely ban the Hells Angels biker gang. In July of 2022, the Supreme Court Of The Netherlands reaffirmed this ban and made it permanent. Other countries (such as Germany) had banned local chapters, but never the club as a whole.
69LEJ TIL In the early 1970s the submarine USS Halibut was sent on a secret mission to tap a Soviet undersea cable. The cable was quickly found because the Soviets left signs warning fishing vessels not to anchor near it. The operation was successful and the tap wouldn’t be discovered until 1981.
rL0w TIL after MH-17 was shot down over Ukraine, the Russian government accused a Ukrainian fighter jet. After it was exposed that this type of jet couldn’t reach the required altitude, Wikipedia said there were a flurry of attempts from Russia to edit the jet’s page to say it could fly higher.
nWWbW TIL the Big Bang wasn’t actually an explosion that happened in the center of the universe, there is not even a center to the universe. It has happened and has been happening everywhere all at once.
Ql8X TIL that before 2003, it was legal for 16-year-old girls to pose topless in British newspapers. One paper, the Daily Sport, was known to count down the days until it could feature a girl topless on her 16th birthday.