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TIL that a tree in Athens, Georgia legally owns itself after the landowner deeded itself and the surrounding land to the tree.

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A6w7 TIL In 1944, the Bishop and Mayor of Zakynthos were ordered at gunpoint to list the names of all the island’s Jews. They turned in a list with just their names on it, while the island’s population hid the Jews. All 275 Jews survived the war.
yVlXl TIL that all polar bears in Iceland are shot on sight. They are not native to the island, and dangerous because they are hungry after floating over on ice from Greenland. It is too difficult and expensive to return them home.
NX6Y6 TIL That during the Civil War, there were times when billiard results received wider coverage than war news.
9wLDX TIL The first deep water submarine rescue occurred in 1939. The submarine USS Sailfish sank off New Hampshire. 33 out of 59 of the crew had survived, trapped in a compartment that had not flooded. A newly developed device called the Mcann Rescue Chamber was used to rescue all the survivors.
Z84oQ TIL: about Georgia Tan, the director of the Children’s Home Society, who became wealthy by kidnapping over 5,000 children and selling them for a steep profit. 500 children died under her care in Memphis, TN