› added 8 years ago

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TIL that 1-3% of the population are known as the sleepless elite. This group of people routinely get 6 hours or less of sleep daily and remain totally functional.

JY95v TIL that there's a name dispute over whether it's appropriate to refer to Ireland and Britain as the "British Isles". Alternatives include IONA or Islands Of the North Atlantic, the Pretanic Isles after their ancient Greek name, and the St. Agnes Isles after the smallest island in the archipelago.
pnj8 TIL In 1985 members of the staff of a “Bestseller” book, placed coupons redeemable for $5 cash inside 70 books that were selling well, and none of them were sent in, proving that they were most likely not read.
E10wV TIL that when Canadian serial killer Wayne McGray was sentenced, he said “Just because I’m locked up in segregation doesn’t mean I can’t kill somebody”. Ten years into his sentence, he killed a cellmate.
wBa8 TIL Saturday morning cartoons vanished in the 2000’s largely due to the “Children’s TV Act” requiring stations to have 3 hours of educational/informational (E/I) programming per week. To avoid the stations affiliates scheduling the E/I during their weekday shows, Saturday morning’s took the hit.
M7XkA TIL of the Pigmy Three-Toed Sloth on the Panama island of Escudo will only eat the leaves of Red Mangrove trees which contain a fungus with a chemical profile similar to Valium, leaving the sloths in what seems like a life-long high from their main diet