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TIL of the Lake Taal snake, a species of marine snake that evolved to adapt to a freshwater environment. It is found in a single Phillipine lake that was cut off from the sea less than 500 years ago. This means that the snake evolved into a new species in just a few centuries.

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YoRW TIL Leonardo Da Vinci sketched a design for an armor-clad robot. A robot was built based on the sketch and was found to be fully functional
kOLj1 TIL at least 749 American servicemen were killed in England, April 1944, during large-scale rehearsals for D-Day. Rumoured 450 friendly fire deaths were followed the next day with 749 deaths by attacking E-boats. The incident was under the strictest secrecy and was only nominally reported afterwards
e0KGJ TIL that when actor Raul Julia was terminally ill, he decided that his last performance would be as the villain in Street Fighter, as his children were fans of the game it was based on. The movie received terrible reviews, but Julia's performance was critically acclaimed.
0dQAv TIL of 'rubber soldiers' - Brazilians conscripted by their government during World War II to harvest rubber in the Amazon for the war effort. Approximately 30,000 died from rough conditions and disease - more than the total number of solders Brazil sent to fight overseas during the war.
e0yJ4 TIL Benito Mussolini signed Vatican City into existence. The 1929 Lateran Treaty ended the dispute between the Italian government & the Catholic Church, which allowed the Vatican to exist as its own sovereign state and compensated the church $92 million (> $1 billion today) for the Papal states.