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82

TIL Romans used Geese as guard animals due to their very aggressive nature and large numbers. They were so effective Romans considered them sacred

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oJA7 TIL that in the ‘80s (a full decade before the WWW started to come on its own) 25 million people in France went on-line to bank, check the weather, chat, make reservations, socialize, check stock prices, and, yes, to do porn. No computer: they used a free Minitel terminal.
wA5M TIL that it was common belief in Medieval Europe that a magnet would lose its strength when in the presence of- among other things - garlic, goats’ blood and diamonds. This was disproved by surrounding a lodestone with 75 diamonds, then picking it up with a lump of iron.
jdon TIL a mile in America is about 3.2 millimetres longer than in the rest of the world.
rRNGM Frozen in time, Franz Josef Land is one of the last lingering remnants of the truly wild Arctic. The remote and nearly uninhabited 192-island archipelago is renowned for its biodiversity, which includes polar bears, walruses, bowhead whales, belugas, and narwhals. The intensifying impact of climate change, however, nearly turned this serene environment deadly for National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Enric Sala and his crew.
wLvrE TIL Johnny cash got the tempo to "I Walk the Line" from his heartbeat when he wrote the song. His heart beat was pretty fast that day, he felt his pulse and put the music on beat with it.