› added 5 years ago

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TIL Wilson the Cast Away Volleyball was inspired by screenwriter William Broyles, Jr.'s personal research. Broyles stranded himself on a deserted island for a week, and a volleyball washed ashore.

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lyXN TIL that Nebraska is a triply landlocked state: it touches no ocean, the states it borders touch no ocean, and the states they border touch no ocean.
JJdk TIL there are stars called “Magnetars” with magnetic fields strong enough to kill any life form at a distance of 1000km
WQv8 TIL that in 1999, US forces bombed a Chinese embassy, killing 3 ambassadors and injuring 20. The incident was blamed on outdated maps. China never accepted the US explanation, and it was later revealed that the CIA actually had accurate maps.
GLPN TIL A German student drove up to a Hell’s Angels clubhouse, mooned the group, threw a puppy at them, and escaped on a bulldozer.
5BRP TIL that in 1998 and 2001, Japan enacted a set of modifications to Japanese law called the “Happy Monday System,” which schedules as many state holidays as possible on Mondays to create three-day weekends for those that normally work a five-day work week.