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Today I Learned that the image of Smokey the Bear undergoes more enforced regulation than the American flag. This is not hyperbole, the US government has to give explicit permission for anyone to have a costume, and does not allow Smokey The Bear to be depicted in any way that is demeaning to him.

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nWXnG TIL that over 2,000 years ago the Greek astronomer Eratosthenes estimated the Earth’s circumference to be equivalent to 26,000 miles, a 5% error. He did this based on the Sun shining down wells in the Egyptian cities of Alexandria and Styene and knowing how far apart they were.
LkpeV TIL that the German submarine U-1206 was lost due to a toilet malfunction: the leak flooded the submarine's batteries causing them to release chlorine gas, leaving the Commander with no alternative but to surface. Once surfaced, U-1206 was discovered and bombed by British patrols.
g5kb TIL a woman by the name of Lydia Fairchild took a DNA test that showed that the biological mother of her own children was her twin sister that did not exist. Further testing showed she was a chimera: a person who absorbs their twin in the womb and has two sets of DNA.
neVlP TIL about Luke "Milky" Moore. He abused a bank error to overdraft $1.5million and spent it on cars, drugs, and sex before he was caught and sent to jail. He successfully argued his own case and was released without having to pay any of it back.
1aaY7 TIL that a Sonderkommando in Auschwitz-II successfully took four pictures of the death camp in action that were smuggled out of the camp by the Polish resistance in a toothpaste tube #1-2 cremation of corpses in a fire pit from the chamber #3 naked women before they enter the chamber #4 miss-aimed