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TIL the spade-toothed whale, the rarest species of beaked whale, was only known from skull remains until two individuals were beached in New Zealand in 2012. It has never been seen alive.

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WnvB TIL About 600,000 Horseshoe Crabs are caught each year to have their blood harvested to test medicines and medical devices for endotoxins like E. coli. This is a concern as they’re now classified as “Vulnerable” and currently create the only substance able to detect these types of bacteria.
vPaoD TIL of the "Great Smoke Pall" of 1950, a change in the skies from wildfires in Canada. The wildfires weren't well publicized, so there was speculation that the skies changed due to reasons such as secret U.S. military experiments, supernatural forces, and alien invasion.
oabK TIL that Catullus, an ancient Roman poet, wrote a poem criticizing those who considered his poems too racy, and that poem both began and ended with a line that translates to “I will sodomize you and face-fuck you.”
J4NB TIL According to his biography, Kim Jung-Il first picked up a golf club in 1994, at North Korea’s only golf course, and shot a 38-under par round that included no fewer than 11 holes in one. Satisfied with his performance, he reportedly immediately declared his retirement from the sport.
X06pE TIL the release of T. Rex's hit single "Get it On" ended the once-solid friendship between Marc Bolan and John Peel: Peel made clear his lack of enthusiasm for the song on air after playing his advance white label copy. They only spoke once more before Bolan's death in 1977.