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TIL JFK’s PT-109 patrol boat came under attack near the Solomon Islands, and sunk. Swam 3.5 miles to the island. He then etched an SOS message into a coconut shell, asked two natives to deliver it to a nearby base in order to arrange for their rescue. He later turned the shell into a paper weight.

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QJNX9 Physicians and veterinarians agree: If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and is sick like a duck, it's best for it to be treated by someone trained to treat a duck. Faced with such a scenario, physicians would be armed only with what they know about human biology. And that doesn't go very far, says Rika Maeshiro, the director of Public Health and Prevention Projects for the Association of American Medical Colleges.
v1kLx TIL the name Woodchuck for groundhogs doesn't have anything to do with wood. It's thought to be a corruption of the Native American words wejack, woodshaw, or woodchoock. It may have its roots in the Algonquian (or perhaps Narragansett) name for the animal: wuchak.
QJwjE TIL Saddam Hussein's family were such big fans of the movie Scarface that they named their trust fund "Montana Management" after the lead character's money laundering front. It held a 2% ownership in magazines such as Elle and Woman's Day.
e0Gm6 TIL Agatha Christie has outsold Stephen King and J.K Rowling combined by about 2 billion books.
vPvwr TIL that the earliest sunset of the year has already happened in nearly all of the United States, even though the winter solstice is yet to come