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TIL Cincinnati Built a Subway System 100 Years Ago–But Never Used It

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A4bl TIL that up until the 1600s, a “black swan” was a metaphor for something that did not exist. Then a group of Dutch explorers became the first Europeans to see black swans in Western Australia in 1697, and the phrase was amended to mean “a perceived impossibility that might later be disproven.”
BgKQx TIL Birds Use Spikes Intended To Keep Them Away From Buildings As Protection For Their Own Nest Against Predators
LkPbd TIL: During the first crusade, ~700 crusader knights routed an army of ~12000 with a head on charge. The Seljuq army, not expecting such an attack, tried to deploy with moderate success. But mass panic eventually led to a route.
yQe8p TIL Kangaroo tendons act like springs so little muscular effort is used in hopping
nABW TIL a dog named Chaser has the largest tested memory of any non-human animal. She can identify 1,022 toys by their name and retrieve them by name and by category.