› added 9 years ago

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TIL scientist feared the first atomic test would initiate an unstoppable chain reaction and ultimately lead to the destruction of earth

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Zp7lR TIL that the female moorland hawker dragonfly sometimes plays dead to avoid mating. Unlike some females of some other species of dragonfly, they aren’t guarded by male mates. A single sexual encounter is enough to fertilize all their eggs, and copulating again could damage their reproductive tracts.
6WLW TIL Wal-Mart once pulled Midge, a doll in the Barbie line, from the shelves due to concerns she was pregnant with no wedding ring and it would promote teen pregnancy.
yVl4a TIL the movie Cleopatra cost $350 million adjusted for inflation to make, 3 times higher than Ben Hur. Due to its cost it was considered a box office bomb despite being highest grossing film of 1963.
LmRZ TIL that in Iceland books are exchanged on Christmas Eve & you spend the rest of the night reading. Iceland publishes more books per capita than any other country; & new books are typically published only during the Christmas season. This frenzy is called Jólabókaflóð, or “Christmas Book Flood.”
J1OK8 TIL about Osama Bin Laden, a rogue bull elephant who killed at least 27 people and wreaked havoc in the Indian state of Assam in the early 2000’s.