› added 11 years ago

483

TIL that in Sydney Australia snipers are deployed to protect colonies of little penguins from predators

Read more theguardian.com

via reddit.com

DQ45p TIL that in 1939 Ernest Vincent Wright wrote and published a 50,000 word novel, 'Gadsby' which does not contain the letter 'e' . A warehouse containing most copies of the book burned down.
kOm8g TIL that a cow escaped from a Polish farm and was spotted months later living with a herd of wild bison.
Bgard TIL that Earth-Moon Lagrange points have been targeted orbits for past satellite launches
PYZEn TIL that in order to appease Persia for killing their ambassadors, Sparta sent two young noblemen volunteers, Bulis and Sperthias, to offer themselves to be executed in atonement. Xerxes sent the men back, saying that he would not sink to Sparta's level and did not consider Sparta's guilt loosened.
oRrXA TIL that pyramid schemes were such a problem in Albania that in 1997 the country was engulfed in a civil war for the next 6 months due to its citizens being scammed, losing nearly 1.2 billion USD, while having a nominal GDP of 2.25 billion USD.