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TIL the 'All Red Line' was a system of electrical telegraphs that linked much of the British Empire from 1902. 8,000 tonnes of cable was needed to complete the longest section from Canada to a Pacific island. On completion, 49 cable cuts would be needed to isolate the United Kingdom

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68kQ TIL A city in California almost stopped the usage of Styrofoam cups because they were known to be made using “dihydrogen monoxide”, completely neglecting the fact that the substance is plain water.
7nZr TIL that spiders tune each strand of their web to a specific frequency by making some strans tighter than others so that when something is caught in it, the spider can easily pinpoint where it is. This is also used for determining whether what cause the sound is a food or a potential mate.
6EjJW TIL from 1999 to 2006 John Mackey, founder of Whole Foods, made anonymous postings on a Yahoo chat forum as Rahodeb, anagram of "Deborah" supporting Whole Foods and denigrating Wild Oats, a competitor he later acquired. The messages were disclosed in court filings by the FTC.
rN0vw TIL the "New River" is the Oldest River in the Americas. It is also the fourth-oldest river in the world, and flows 320 miles from the Blue Ridge Mountains into Virginia and West Virginia
dDwm8 TIL Osedax worms use acid to bore into shark and whale bones and teeth once they are shed or in carcasses, and rely on symbiotic bacteria to release nutrients the worms can absorb. The females reproduce continuously. 100s of dwarf males live inside a female's surrounding tube.