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138

TIL That President Andrew Jackson owned a parrot named Poll. When Jackson died Poll was present at his funeral, but had to be removed due to "Swearing and yelling profanities" that he learned from Jackson himself

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nepL9 TIL of Mauro Prosperi who survived for 9 days alone in the Saharan Desert on a diet of urine and bats after becoming disoriented and travelling nearly 200 miles in the wrong direction during an endurance event. He was found in Algeria despite the race taking part in Morocco
O997 TIL that MIT students can get a course credit for surfing Reddit - while doing research and analysis on the site and its community.
RGe4 TIL that, uniquely, the Norwegian special territory of Svalbard is an entirely visa-free zone. No person is required visa or residence permit, and anyone may live and work in Svalbard indefinitely, regardless of citizenship.
E1YGd TIL the chemical Thioacetone is the world's smelliest substance. It's so bad that, after a lab technician dropped a vial of it, it induced instant vomiting from people in buildings almost 1/2 mile away.
Eg6Kx TIL Fred Noonan joined Amelia Earhart as her navigator on their ill-fated flight, and was lost with her. Because of Earhart's prior records for solo flights, many people believe that she was alone when they disappeared.