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TIL Female Komodo dragons can impregnate themselves without a male through a process called "parthenogenesis." They can force the duplication of sex chromosomes and give birth to male Komodo dragons; keeping the species alive.

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webJ TIL that the region of Patagonia in South America originates from the Spanish term “patagón”, roughly translating to ‘giants’, given to natives by Magellan when encountering the local tribe of Tehuelches along the coast. Archaeologists have determined their average male height to have been 6’10”.
jNLjQ TIL that Mark Twain wrote the very first novel that was ever written with a typewriter. That novel was Tom Sawyer
BgBOL TIL John Atherton, an Anglical Bishop during the XVII century, helped extend the "Buggery act" to Ireland which punished sodomy with death. 6 years later he was hanged to death, for the crime of sodomy.
78rQP TIL of 'Truck Wages' or 'Company Scrip, where an employer will pay employees in company minted money that is only redeemable in company owned stores. It is referenced in the sea shanty 'Wellerman' and the last company to get sued for using it was Walmart Mexico.
GY9PN TIL In 1965 Milton Olive III sacrificed his own life to save a group of soldiers by smothering a live grenade. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor award, becoming the first African American of the Vietnam War to do so.