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TIL Sharks are older than trees

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xVD80 TIL: The Diderot Effect is obtaining a new possession which often creates a spiral of consumption which leads you to acquire more new things. As a result, we end up buying things that our previous selves never needed to feel happy or fulfilled
5Yx6D Today I learned about the Carolina Dog, America's dingo. Also known as the Dixie dingo, or "old yellar" the Carolina Dog may have been the inspiration for the book. They were notated in 1920 to be a native american companion and are one of the few breeds left that haven't been influenced by humans.
mxLER TIL that the percussion cap was invented by a Scottish reverend whose guns were too slow for goose and wild game hunting.
awPXM TIL that the Alfred, formally known as the Black Prince, became the first vessel to fly the Grand Union Flag; the precursor to the Stars and Stripes that we know today. The flag was hoisted on the Delaware River by John Paul Jones and this event was documented in letters to Congress
Bgmve TIL about the NAWPA, an old plan to divert water from Alaska to the Contiguous US using up to 800 km long reservoirs in Canada that would have flooded large towns and vast salmon habitat