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TIL Qatar, a desert state, is aiming to grow up to 70 percent of its own vegetables by 2023 thanks to the launch of a new farming system that needs no soil and which recycles irrigation water. The pilot project had been “a great success” and adapted well to Qatar’s harsh growing conditions

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Z8baY TIL about the Mammoth Cheese, a 22,000 lb block of Canadian cheddar which was entered into the Chicago World Fair of 1893. When it was placed on its display it crashed through the wooden floor and was then moved to a reinforced concrete floor. It won a bronze medal at the fair.
pYEXN TIL that there was a Portuguese man raised in South Africa called Fernando Pessoa who had around 70 different personalities.
mxYP TIL when Ray Bradbury was 14, he got to know George Burns who encouraged him to write. 30 years later, Ray Bradbury got to meet Burns again to thank him.
WkgBN TIL Floyd Paxton was eating complimentary nuts and realized he didn’t have a way to close them if he wanted to save some for later. As a solution, he took out a pen knife and hand-carved the first bread clip out of a credit card. His company, Kwik Lok, produces billions of bread closures a year.
9YjO6 TIL that an entomologist called Justin Schmidt allowed plenty of venomus insects to sting him in order to record the pain intensity in what's called "Schmidt pain Scale".