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TIL billionaire Tom Perkins spelled out a secret message using nautical code flags strung along the length of his enormous yacht. The message? “Rarely does one have the privilege of witnessing vulgar ostentation displayed upon such a scale.”

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ggD7 TIL a stray cat named Humphrey was found and subsequently employed at 10 Downing street as a pest controller, eventually rising to the position of Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office. After being removed by Cherie Blair, his whereabouts remained unknown until a spokesman reported his death in 2006
jPPM TIL: The most poisonous animal in America is the rough-skinned newt, whose skin contains a poison 10,000 times deadlier than cyanide. They are far more toxic than any other land animal because their predator, the garter snake has become increasingly immune to the toxin as it has become more potent.
1aNoP TIL magpie birds in Australia regularly swoop-attack cyclists and walkers who get too close to their nests. Thousands of attacks happen annually, mostly a nuisance but also causing hundreds of injuries. In 2018, a toddler sitting in a stroller was almost blinded by a magpie attacking his face.
YpxNG TIL of the Machine Identification Code. A series of secret dots that certain printers leave on every piece of paper they print, giving clues to the originator and identification of the device that printed it. It was developed in the 1980s by Canon and Xerox but wasn't discovered until 2004.
loy5 TIL that, in level 3-3 of the original Super Mario Bros, it is actually possible to jump over the flagpole. An unending brick road lies beyond the castle.