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TIL the Portuguese Empire was the first and last European colonial empire. At the start of the empire, the Americas were not yet discovered. Upon its collapse, the series "Friends" was airing its 5th season.

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ADKdd TIL that from time syphilis first emerged, in the 1500s, countries blamed neighboring and sometimes enemy countries for the outbreak; Italy, Germany & the UK called it ‘the French disease’, the French named it ‘the Neapolitan disease’, and there are numerous other instance (Listed here, paragraph 3)
N6nQ TIL That fulmars, a type of seabird, vomit a putrid fishy oil on their assailants in self-defense. Not only does it smell horrific, but it’s lethal to predatory birds because it permanently glues their feathers together.
KOYQ4 First, it's important to know that the big bang wasn't an explosion of matter into empty space—it was the rapid expansion of space itself. This means that every single point in the universe appears to be at the center. Think of the universe as an empty balloon with dots on it. Those dots represent clusters of galaxies. As the balloon inflates, every dot moves farther away from every other dot.
rRN10 TIL that in the XIX century there was a major social movement to limit the working time to 8 hours a day, or 40 hours a week
wLyyJ TIL that the largest ocean liner built entirely in the United States (and designed by an American) is sitting derelict in Philadelphia, PA in danger of becoming scrap.