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TIL about Hoshizuna no Hama ('Star Sand Beach') on the Japanese island of Taketomi-jima, where the grains of sand are shaped like tiny stars. They're actually exoskeletons of tiny one-celled organisms called 'Baclogypsina sphaerulata'

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M7bQV TIL that in 2023 a final rule was finally published by the Fish and Wildlife Service declaring the iconic Ivory Billed Woodpecker was extinct. The rule included 21 species, including 10 birds, 8 mussels, 2 fish, and a flying fox. The rule removes protection under the Endangered Species Act.
wodB7 TIL of the Sampoong Department Store collapse - the 2nd deadliest building collapse in peacetime. The store manager refused to evacuate when told the building would imminently collapse, and served only 7.5 years in prison
VM1BB TIL the USSR had a televised song contest. Since few people had phones, viewers would turn their house lights on if they liked a certain song, off if they didn’t. The state energy company recorded the size of each power spike & reported results to the station to determine votes for each contestant.
DjQe TIL while researching for the film Castaway, screenwriter William Broyles Jr. chose to strand himself for one week on an isolated beach in the Gulf of California to force himself to search for water and food and obtain his own shelter.
W7jZL TIL that Marlon Brando obsessively tried to instill discipline in his children. When his son Christian refused to go to school, Brando took him outside, fired a gun into the ground and told him that was what happened to people who didn’t get an education.