› added 9 years ago

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TIL that giant anteaters do not produce any stomach acid. Instead, the combined sting venom (formic acid) found in all of the ants it eats is used to digest the prey once it is ground up and swallowed - the ants are digested in their own venom.

9YmLp TIL that in 1988, the CIA paid $2 MM to Chad in order to extract an advanced Soviet attack helicopter (Mi-25) from an abandoned Libyan air base using two MH-47 Chinook transport helicopters, flying a total of 500 miles under the cover of night
ep7xb TIL that Beatrice Straight won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in 1976's "Network," despite appearing on-screen for just five minutes and 40 seconds.
GYBpE TIL researchers discovered that applying a sonogram to a person's skull and stimulating specific brain regions can alter their mood. One researcher described applying it to his own head and later feeling like he had a martini. They hope to develop a sonogram-based device to treat mood disorders.
VMr54 TIL that 2000 hit song Around the World (La La La La La) of the German ATC band is actually originally a Russian song of Ruki Vverh! (Hands up!) pop group. The song wasn't even popular in Russia, BMG music co. acquired rights for it and Ruki Vverh! got proper royalties from the deal.
jNdLa TIL In 1989, two teenagers found a new born baby abandoned on a doorstep, swaddled in towels with her umbilical cord still attached. They handed her over to authorities. She was less than 12 hours old. 20 years later, the abandoned child- now grown up, tracked them down and thanked them.