› added 6 years ago

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TIL: When scientists found harpoon tips from the 19th century in bowhead whales, they got curious about how old they were and discovered they are one of the oldest vertebrates in the world, living to be over 200 years old.

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ymAv TIL on a clear dark night the human eye can detect a candle being lit from 30 miles away.
wLvwE TIL In 1999, Yeltsin signed a union treaty with Russia and Belarus. The agreement commits the two former Soviet states to merging into a confederal state
DJ0J TIL people originally used bread to erase pencil marks. In 1770, Edward Naine accidentally picked up a piece of rubber and found it to be very effective at erasing pencil marks, which prompted him to begin selling rubber erasers. Erasers exist to correct mistakes, and was invented because of one.
6nWm TIL that in the Great Depression in the 1930’s, Canada had zero bank failures compared to over 9,000 failed banks in the USA.
DLnr TIL Elvis Costello was banned from SNL after switching from “Less than Zero” to “Radio, Radio” mid performance. SNL’s producer gave him the finger for the duration of the song.