› added 10 years ago

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TIL that Israel sunk an American naval research ship that was monitoring radio during the Six-Day war. Officially it was ruled an accident, although all survivors maintain that it was intentional.

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oBVpW TIL that in WWI a carrier pigeon was shot, blinded, and had her leg blown off but was still able to deliver her message - saving the lives of 194 soldiers
rRYdy TIL the “WD” in WD-40 stands for Water Displacement, and the “40” represents the forty attempts it took the inventors to get the secret formula just right - so right that the same formula is still in use today.
d8Ob8 TIL in 1998, Alex Trebek donated of 74 acres of open land (worth $2m at the time) in Los Angeles' Hollywood Hills for the purpose of conservation and as a wildlife corridor
ajyA TIL when the Portuguese introduced chili peppers to Japan in the 16th century, rather than being eaten they were commonly put into socks to keep toes warm.
BrZ4b TIL that 3 US States (Texas, New York & California) individually each have a larger economy than Russia.