› added 5 years ago

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TIL this yellow-pigmented male northern cardinal is most likely a genetic mutation that renders the pigments the bird draws from foods making it appear with yellow coloration rather than red. This is called xanthochromism; in addition to cardinals, it has also been seen in rose-breasted grosbeaks.

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v1KgD TIL that only 3 bowlers have picked up the 7-10 split on television and that despite many shows and movies showing it being picked up by directly sliding one pin into another, this is, in fact, impossible.
9YamM TIL that Ismail I, the Turco-Persian founder of the Safavid empire, started his rebellion at the age of 12, crowned himself King of Kings at the age of 14 after capturing Tabriz, and conquered most of Iran and Central Asia by the age of 23.
Qg0d TIL Sesame Street’s Count Von Count’s counting obsession come from a traditional vampire myths that depicts vampires as having a fixation with counting small objects. In the myth, the fixation often provides a means of distracting them by tossing a handful of seeds or salt on the ground.
R7Ly6 TIL shipping magnate Malcom McLean built the high speed SL-7 cargo ships only to see the '73 Oil Crisis increase fuel costs tenfold, forcing them from service. Next he bet the fate of his company on the extremely fuel efficient Jumbo Econships, only to see oil prices crash. US Lines went bankrupt.
ernJ TIL in 1918 a carrier pigeon saved 194 American soldiers by delivering a message to nearby support despite having been blinded in one eye, shot through the breast, covered in blood, and with a leg hanging on by just a tendon.