› added 9 years ago

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TIL spelling bees are a particularly American/British phenomenon. Other languages spell their words so intuitively that one can easily spell them just by hearing them. English, on the other hand, contains Latin, Greek, Germanic, etc. roots, not to mention whole words borrowed from other languages.

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E10j7 TIL that in 2002 a Garuda Indonesia Flight 421 lost both its engines mid-flight due to a severe hailstorm. Relying on only its standby instruments due to a faulty APU, the pilots successfully ditched the aircraft into a narrow and twisted portion of the Bengawan Solo River between two bridges.
6o87 TIL that Franken-Berry (children’s cereal) Used to Turn People’s Poo Pink Due to an Inability To Break Down the Heavily-Dyed Cereal. The Symptom Was Referred to as “Franken-Berry Stool”
gYaL TIL American roulette wheels are different than wheels in other parts of the world. Casinos in the U.S. use a 0 and double 0 to decrease the odds of winning to 1/38, while other countries use just 0, making the odds 1/37 when betting individual numbers
neKpr TIL The Puritans Didn't Come to the New World for 'Religious Freedom' The Protestant "Separatists" left Holland because of too much religious freedom, since the country allowed Judaism and Catholicism and even atheism.
1aPkd TIL: Archaeologist Alexander Peev was executed by firing squad in 1943 on suspicion of sending a coded message to the Soviet Union. It was actually an ancient inscription he wanted Russian archaeologists to help him interpret. The text remains undeciphered.