› added 1 year ago

105

TIL in the 1920s Fiat had a 1/2 mile race track built on the roof of their factory

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MAwK TIL that in 2006, Matthew McConaughey saved a cat from being doused with hairspray and set on fire by children.
R5oO4 TIL The "two-fingered salute" with an inward facing palm has long been an insulting gesture in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. George H W Bush once accidentally used the insulting gesture in Australia, mistaking it for the "peace sign" (palm facing outwards).
XE4Jr TIL Penguin Australia was forced to destroy 7,000 of its cookbook Pasta Bible after a typo suggested that a dish required "salt and freshly ground black people" instead of "black pepper". The mistake cost the company $20k.
KOy7a TIL Gerbils are illegal as pets in California due to its climate being so similar to the gerbil's natural desert habitat that state officials are concerned that gerbils who escape or are released into the wild could establish feral colonies
b9yeN TIL Hubei has the largest primary forests remaining in Central China and provides habitat for many rare animal species, such as the Chinese Giant Salamander, the Golden or Sichuan Snub-nosed Monkey, and the Asian Black Bear. From 1884 to 1889 more than 500 new species were recorded from the area