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TIL the top of the giant redwood forest were thought to be a lifeless wasteland. But explorers recently discover their canopy contains an entire ecosystem. A lake of fern, top soil a meter deep in its branches, trees and other plants, and crustaceans that only live in water all live up there.

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av50 TIL that flamboyant pianist Liberace almost died on Nov 22, 1963 after inhaling dry cleaning fumes from his newly cleaned costumes. What saved him from death, he said, was being woken up by his entourage to the news that JFK had been assassinated
wLVN6 TIL russian luitenant colonel Stanislav Petrov went down in history as the man who single-handedly saved the world from all-out nuclear war when he called out an false allarm when the soviet missile detection system claimed six US nuclear missiles have been launched.
xVlP0 TIL that the detonation of a suicide vest will often peel the face off the bomber and launch it, intact, away from the blast. This can be very helpful in identifying the bomber.
PYwMJ TIL in 1721, the now-Lutheran Danish sent missionaries to Greenland, as it was assumed the medieval Norse settlers must still be Catholic or had reverted to paganism. The Norse had died out in the early 1400s, but the Danes found Inuit there instead
ANrOw TIL Billy Idol was first choice for the role of T-1000 in Terminator 2, but a motorcycle accident in 1990 prevented it. During his time in hospital he also swore never to wear the Confederate flag again after a black employee explained his feelings on it.