› added 7 years ago

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TIL that Manta Rays have shown evidence of being sapient/self-aware and are the smartest fish in the ocean outside of dolphins

Read more oceana.org

via reddit.com

e0RD5 TIL the mile is based off a bunch of Roman guys deciding to take a thousand paces and call that a mile
xVNr5 TIL that Taiwan takes part in international events such as the Olympics under the name "Chinese Taipei" instead of their full name, the Republic of China.
XEKR6 TIL Mel Brooks offered the role of Waco Kid (Gene Wilder's character) in Blazing Saddles to John Wayne.
OGLdY TIL Chinese Prime Minister Wellington Koo earned multiple degrees from Columbia in New York. Koo's 1912 PhD thesis was "The Status of Aliens in China" and Columbia has a fellowship bearing his name to doctoral students in social science focused on East Asia
E1EKV TIL The first U.S. gold rush started in North Carolina in 1803 when a 12-year-old boy found a 17-pound gold nugget on his father’s farm. It supplied all the gold for the nation’s mints until 1829.