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TIL There are luxury tent accomodations close to hiking places to see mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Virunga National Park. All drinking water and shower water come from rainwater collected in giant storage tents that had to be transported there

Read more virunga.org

via reddit.com

Wk1P9 TIL ancient swords from 'Damascus' (Syria) dipped in 'Dragon's Blood,' as legend has it, were studied by scientists who further dipped the metal, 'wootz,' in hydrochloric acid to reveal, under an electron-microscope, nano-metre-sized tubes with a microstructure similar to modern carbon nanotubes.
OkxL TIL the US temporarily had universal child care during World War II to support working mothers. In 1971, Congress passed a bill that would have provided it permanently, only to have it vetoed by Richard Nixon at the urging of Pat Buchanan.
JyXm TIL if everyone lived like a resident of the United States, we would need the resources of 4.5 planet Earths for sustainable supply.
VMOk4 TIL Somali novelist Nuruddin Farah has garnered acclaim as one of the greatest contemporary writers in the world. Farah was warned that the Somali government planned to arrest him, so he began a self-imposed exile that would last for 22 years
GA4pQ TIL Marine Duane Dewey was being treated by a navy corpsman in Korea after a grenade exploded at his feet, when another grenade landed near them. Dewey immediately smothered it shouting "Doc, I got it in my hip pocket!" Dewey survived & won the Medal of Honor for saving the corpsman's life & others.