› added 1 year ago

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TIL that ducks and ostriches produce erections by pumping lymphatic fluid (rather than blood) into their penis

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via reddit.com

oAxE TIL that Hugh Thompson, Jr. saw US soldiers murdering entire villages of unarmed civilians. He landed his helicopter and stood between the murders and the civilians. His actions are what stopped the massacre at My Lai.
GYgRg TIL pieces of Skylab were scattered around a part of Western Australia after its reentry into Earth. As a joke, the local government then fined NASA $400 for littering. It went unpaid for 30 years until a Californian DJ raised funds to pay the fine.
b97A9 TIL the green flash at the end of "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" is based on a real optical phenomenon
6E5XW TIL San Francisco’s LBGT culture was rooted in the gold rush, when the city’s population was 95% men. The unbalanced gender ratio made things such as cross-dressing and same-sex dancing commonplace.
0dGwN TIL that Texas used to be part of Mexico until 1836. Then it became an independent country for 9 years before being annexed by the United States in 1845.