› added 1 year ago

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TIL about the Kākāpō, a bird so stupid that it is nearly extinct. It will simply allow itself to get eaten, and it's mating call is a confusing mess for females.

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rRMNo TIL formations called "the Devil's Corkscrew" were first found around Harrison, Nebraska, in 1891, and were once thought to be extinct forms of sea sponges, but it turns out they are actually fossilized dens of an extinct type of beaver called Palaeocastor.
Z8elY TIL: Like all male Swiss citizens, Roger Federer was subject to compulsory military service in the Swiss Armed Forces. However, he was ruled "unsuitable" due to an unspecified injury. Instead he served in the civil protection force & was required to pay 3% of his taxable income as an alternative.
LkM8m TIL that when Weird Al Yankovic parodied the Nirvana song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (Titled "Smells like Nirvana"), frontman and guitarist Kurt Cobain considered the parody as a sign that the band had "made it".
WkY8L TIL Jack O'Lanterns got their name from the myth about Jack who tricked the devil into not claiming his soul, however he was also denied entrance to heaven. The devil gave Jack one burning piece of coal that he carried in a carved out turnip as he roamed the earth for eternity.
VM0xQ TIL when Richard Feynman was in the State Curriculum Commission of California, he found out that some members of the committee which was responsible for choosing which books are used in public education had given a rating to not only unfinished, but completely blank textbooks [Page 173]