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TIL Blue whales eat half a million calories in one mouthful

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mD6x TIL that the idea that people used to think that the world was flat is actually a modern misconception and “with extraordinary few exceptions no educated person in the history of Western Civilization from the third century B.C. onward believed that the Earth was flat”
mxRjp TIL that the US government used an Atomic Bomb to launch a manhole cover 125,000 mph (201,160 kph), that is the fastest that a man-made object has traveled. It is also said that it beat the Sputnik to space, although that was never confirmed.
woZ1W Today I learned that the word kindergarten (a German word directly translating to child garden) was coined in the 18th century by Friedrich Fröbel, who laid the foundation for the modern education system. Before then, children under 7 didn't attend school.
GYRNN TIL a Navy Seal Lieutenant, Michael P. Murphy, along with a 4-man team were pinned down by nearly 100 Taliban Militants in a remote part of Afghanistan. Murphy made his way to a high-point in the mountains to successfully phone in reinforcements. He continued to fight for 2 hours until his death.
OGNR TIL Senior PETA VP, Mary Beth Sweetland, takes insulin for diabetes (a product of animal testing) yet, like PETA, vigorously opposes all animal testing.