› added 3 years ago

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TIL in 2003 when the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington was in a cracked state from weathering, a retired used car salesmen purchased a $31,000 marble slab to donate for its repair. The donation was rejected by Congress in part because it didn’t go through a competitive bidding process.

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vOkx TIL the venom of the Sydney funnel-web spider found in Australia can kill a man in 15 minutes by elevating blood pressure and causing the air sacs in the lungs to burst (pulmonary edema)causing the victim to effectively drown on dry land. All mammals are immune except for Primates.
6w1W TIL : Bob Marley was the father of 3 children born to 3 different women in one month.
VBEyB TIL: the US State Department officially recommends that if you travel to Somalia, you first "Draft a will and designate appropriate insurance beneficiaries", "Be sure to appoint one family member to serve as the point of contact with hostage-takers", "review the Live Piracy Report", etc.
a8VgA TIL plastic soda bottles are shipped in compressed form for shipping, and later use blow molding to expand to their traditional shapes for filling.
AnQw TIL that the English lyrics for the classic Christmas carol “Deck the Halls” were originally “fill the meadcup, drain the barrel” and not “don we now our gay apparel”.