› added 6 years ago

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TIL pine trees scatter their needles across the forest floor to make it easier for fires to burn all of the other trees - pine is fire resistant so it survives.

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QJ9ed TIL about Operation Flagship, where the U.S. Marshals sent letters to 5,000 fugitives telling them that they had won NFL tickets, and to come and collect their prize at a Convention Center. 100 people showed up and were arrested for their outstanding warrants.
KjxG TIL the head of Serbia’s popular State Lottery was forced to resign after the winning numbers of a ‘random’ drawing appeared to television viewers before they were drawn
E1DKd TIL the Unisphere, built in Queens, NY for the 1964 World’s Fair, had lights representing the capitals of the nations of the world, including one indicating the location of the Kahnawake Indian Reservation for the Mohawk Indians who helped build the monument.
DQdgp TIL The parasitic flatworms released by freshwater snails kill up to 200,000 people a year. Only two other animals kill more humans than the flukes released by freshwater snails - humans and mosquitos.
wve6 TIL a lost report on Christopher Columbus from c.1500 came to light in 2006 accusing him of tyranny, torture, mutilation and parading native women naked through the streets and selling them into slavery.Columbus was imprisoned on his return to Spain.