› added 12 years ago

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TIL that during its war against Iraq Iran used school-age children to clear the ground for its regular troops by running over minefields

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W7YBN TIL that early in Edgar Allen Poe's writing career, he published an essay exposing a fake chess-playing automaton that was actually operated by a chess master hidden inside. The essay employs a method of deduction called 'ratiocination' which is used by C. Auguste Dupin, Poe's fictional detective.
d8xDr TIL there are microorganisms living on the seafloor that reproduce only once every 10,000 years and have been alive for millions. These are likely the oldest living things on Earth.
69Rg7 TIL that Denmark held a colony in the Caribbean
xjND TIL that the “Switch Witch” (aka the “Santa of October”) is something anti-candy parents are doing on Halloween. A child leaves out their bag of candy and the Switch Witch replaces it with an awesome toy.
V07k TIL a flight Ernest Hemingway was on crash-landed in Africa. He and his companions were rescued and put in another plane, which burst into flames on the runway. Finding the door jammed, Hemingway used his head as a battering ram, butted the door twice and got out.