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TIL that when Magellan's ships first encountered the Chamorros of the Mariana Islands in 1521, the Chamorros' sailboats far surpassed Magellan's in speed and maneuverability. "That care and attention...cause their ships to sail like birds, while ours are like lead in this regard."

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b9a1p TIL of Kari's Law. In 2013 a woman was murdered in a hotel room by her husband while her nine-year-old daughter tried to call 911 four times. The calls did not go through because the hotel phones required all calls to start with 9 (making 911 9911). The law removes the need for the 9 in hotel phones
PYN5V TIL Maniple was the basic tactical unit of Roman in the 3rd century BC (the polybian legion). a maniple consisted of two centuries. The centurion of the right-handed century had a right to choose the centurion of the left-handed century and was also in charge of the maniple
ean6 TIL that the honey bird of Kenya has evolved a special call used exclusively to communicate with humans. It uses the call to lead villagers to hidden beehives in exchange for some of the honey–two vastly different species consciously working together.
m6ZM TIL In 1920, J. R. R. Tolkien wrote letters to his children as Father Christmas, along with illustrations of his home near the North Pole, and planted it in the youngster’s bedroom. He wrote them until 1943, and with each passing year, his stories became more elaborate and character-filled.
7rvVL TIL that in 1930 on the news bulletin the BBC reported that "There is no news" and instead played piano music