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TIL of Huberta, a South-African hippopotamus who set off in 1928 on 1600km journey over three years where she attracted crowds, became revered and was eventually declared royal game.

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Y5mG TIL in 1992 a Russian submarine attempted to surface, and ran directly into the bottom of the hull of an American submarine, who was spying on their ports.
r8gW TIL: The RNA Tie Club was a scientific gentleman’s club created to “solve the riddle of the RNA structure and… how it built proteins”.The motto was “do or die; or don’t try”. The 20 members each had a designated amino acid and a tie. They would exchange ideas over cigars and alcohol. 8 won Nobels.
m1PaP TIL Latin and Irish have no words for "yes" or "no"
bwr9 TIL there was an unwritten law in the circus world that giants should never allow themselves to be measured. Every circus could then maintain that they had the world’s tallest man and no one could prove otherwise.
ANAGx TIL that the last recorded use of pit ponies in a British coal mine was in 1999 at Pant y Gasseg, and that the practice had ended in 1990 in Australia and 1971 in the USA