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163

TIL that Oxford university is older than the Aztec empire

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rkE0 TIL that humans actually knew the earth was round as early as 2500 years ago. Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the planet to an astounding accuracy of around 99%.
QJ6eM TIL that in the 1970s, American Kitchen Foods released 'I hate peas!', which were just peas disguised in a fry-shaped format to get more kids to eat peas. The product, along with the rest of the 'I hate' line, was not well-received by kids.
rN4Mx TIL that a "Silent Man" in the UK repeatedly gets arrested for standing on a certain road to block traffic. He never speaks a word, not even to the court or his own lawyer. Everytime he is released, he repeats the crime and remains completely silent.
mxMxE TIL there ARE bears in India. People always made jokes about Baloo in the Jungle book: "Why's there a random bear in the jungle?" B/c as is turns out, there are Sloth Bears native to about all of India.
KYZr4 TIL of Claude Ruggieri who launched the first living animals into the air by rocket, returning them safely to earth by parachute. In 1830, French authorities stopped his attempt at the first human rocket flight when the test subject was found to be an 11 year old boy.