› added 8 months ago

31

TIL: UN Secretary General Waldheim told the UN Security Council that the 1976 Entebbe raid that rescued 100+ hostages was "a serious violation of the sovereignty of a Member State of the United Nations"

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

ADj57 TIL all seagulls have a set of glands above the eyes that filter out the salt ions from their bloodstream, allowing them to drink saltwater.
yVJnM TIL 'Happy Birthday' by Stevie Wonder was written in honour of MLK Jr, and was used with success to campaign for the establishment of January 15th, King's birthday, as a national holiday.
69PL7 TIL in 1987 a Japanese team of researchers discovered cavities beneath the Sphinx in Egypt, which was later confirmed by American researchers. All further examination was blocked by the Egyptian government and til this day the caverns have never been explored or excavated.
j8E TIL that since 2010, ps3 uses an audio watermark algorithm to detect illegal movie copies. It can survive compression, re-encoding and microphone recording yet it is imperceptible to human hearing.
nZYB TIL the Green Ink used in American Currency was invented by a Canadian in 1857. Using chromium trioxide, it is difficult to reproduce by counterfeiters and cannot be destroyed by acid.