› added 2 months ago

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TIL the name "British Isles" is considered controversial today, with replacements including "these islands", "Britain and Ireland" and "Anglo-Celtic Isles"

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NX05J TIL in 2002 the Pentagon ran a war game to simulate war with Iran. Marines general Paul Van Riper, playing the defender, sank 19 U.S. ships in 5-10 minutes, including a carrier, several cruisers, and five amphibious ships. He quit the game in disgust after he was ordered to play fair
0dZZv TIL 1878 was the year of the last witch trial - for perspective of how recent that is - it was only 18 years before the invention of the radio. It took until 1918 to finally declare witch trials were a thing of the past.
694ZZ TIL Marie Curie gave away most of her Nobel Prize money, repaid the scholarship she received as a student as soon as she began working, and refrained from patenting the radiation-isolation process so that the scientific community would not have any trouble with continuing research.
KOoQB TIL penguins have an specialized organ that filters salt from their bloodstream, allowing them to drink salt water.
4rRa TIL James May was fired from Autocar magazine after he put a hidden message using the initial letter in each page