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255

TIL that there are two known instances of beaches being stolen

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GAlAG TIL that in 1859, the United States controlled almost 70% of the East African copal ("young amber") trade, with Germany controlling about 25% of the market. Copal was used to create wood varnish for furniture and carriages. The U.S. Civil War (1861– 1865) led to Germany taking control of the market.
ADvVw TIL a study showed we are ingesting an amount of microplastics equivalent to the weight of a credit card each week. That is roughly 5 grams
ZpmXR TIL that because the Conférence Générale des Poids et Mesures requires that because upper-case letters are only used for units named for people, Ken Woolner was inspired to create a scientist, Claude Émile Jean-Baptiste Litre, which would allow people to use L for litre and avoid mixing up l and 1
KO5L9 TIL Decibels are logarithmic, not linear. 30 dB, is 100 times louder than 10 dB, and 40 dB is 1,000 times louder than 10 dB
P1Oyw TIL only 14% of Americans regularly wore seatbelts in the 80's and laws were considered violations of freedom. To regulate seatbelts, the Reagan administration told automakers to install airbags unless they persuaded 2/3 of states to pass seatbelt laws. New seatbelt laws were often weak, anyway.