› added 4 years ago

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TIL that in Poznan, Poland, eight clams get to decide if people in the city get water or not. They’re equipped with sensors atop them that trip the water supply pumps when they close due to detecting something unsafe in the water.

94W7 TIL in 1996 a plane carrying 163 passengers was hijacked, the pilot, Leul Abate, who had been in two previous hijackings, made the only true water landing of a widebody airliner with survivors, whilst the first officer, Yonas Mekuria, was fighting with the hijackers. Also, the landing is on tape.
kO7ZB TIL The phrase "How many angels can stand on the point of a pin?" is a 17th century parody of 13th century question, "Can several angels be in the same place?". The joke is a pun on needle’s point = needless point and debating topics of no practical value while there are more urgent concerns.
69l68 TIL about semantic and episodic memory. Semantic memory refers to general knowledge while episodic memory refers to past events and experiences. That is why you can remember what keys are and how they operate (semantic), but not where you put them (episodic).
MeAWV TIL that Underneath the streets of Beijing, there are over a million people who live in nuclear bunkers.
QJBJa TIL Marvin Heemeyer had an ongoing feud with the local officials in Grandy Colorado so he covered a bulldozer in metal and concrete armor with gun ports and went on a $7,000,000 rampage on June 4th 2004. He committed suicide when the "Killdozer" became trapped after falling into a basement.