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TIL the pitch drop experiment is the world’s longest continuously running laboratory experiment. It measures the flow of a piece of pitch by counting the drops that fall from a funnel. Since 1927 8 drops have fallen. The ninth drop is expected to fall in 2013.

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p8yYp TIL The Brazilian Expeditionary Force landed in Italy on July 2, 1944, two years after Brazil declared war on the Axis. The BEF landed without weapons, and since there was no arrangement for barracks, the troops remained on the docks. This lack of planning caused controversy in the Brazilian media.
YpYQP TIL oilman Charles Hipp owned a beloved pet lion named Blondie in the 50s. He even tried to register her in a children's fishing tournament one year.
kJZ0W TIL that Tom Tom Club's Tina Weymouth did not play bass on the band's studio recording of "Genius of Love". She suffered a bad hand cramp from overplaying and had to enlist the help of an assistant studio engineer, likely Kendall Stubbs from Compass Point Studios, Bahamas, where the LP was recorded.
AD4x7 TIL there was a trend of headless photography in 19th century Britain ("Victorian Headless Portraits"). The models usually had their heads in a platter, or were holding them in their hands. This was made by taking multiple photos and combining the negatives - kinda like the early days' Photoshop.
dDWm9 TIL the vultures in the everglades are attracted to the rubber on cars and so the park offers tarps and bungees to anyone visiting as a means of protection.