› added 7 years ago

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TIL that Granny Smiths, Fujis, and Pink Ladies can all be traced back to Almaty, Kazakhstan, where the ancestor apples still grow wild there in the Tian Shan mountains.

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DvnP TIL that the emperor penguin can dive to a depth of 1,850 ft (565 m) - deeper than any other bird, and deeper than the operational range of most naval submarines
rNeWM TIL that the winner of the 1927 Alaska Territorial Flag design competition was a seventh grade orphan named Benny Benson. He was awarded a watch with the flag emblem on it and 1,000 dollars for education that he put toward studying diesel mechanics.
b9mOp TIL that the first recorded use of Forensic Entomology was by Chinese detective in 1200s AD. In a murder investigation in a village, detective Song Ci put every scythe in the village for inspection and found the culprit when flies- attracted to trace amounts of blood- kept landing on his scythe.
oBDwK TIL of Hazel Hill, a 13 year old schoolgirl who influenced the design of the Spitfire fighter aircraft. She and her father did the calculations that allowed for the aircraft to be fitted with 8 guns instead of 4. The aircraft became famous for winning the Battle of Britain.
eG4g TIL that in the 16th century, prestigious mathematics professorships could be “won” by defeating the current professor in a public algebra competition