› added 4 years ago

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TIL in the 60's Capel Celyn, Wales was flooded to provide drinking water to Liverpool forcing the inhabitants to leave. After the flooding the English MPs had a tea party on location which was quickly destroyed by the furious villagers. This launched a Nationalist movement which continues to grow.

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b6pl9 TIL about the Roughnecks of Sherwood Forest. They were American oil drillers who traveled from Oklahoma to the UK and helped contribute over one million barrels of much-needed oil to fuel the war effort against Germany during WWII. This oil was crucial to the Allies' victory over the Axis powers.
6EayY TIL that historically, polio was not widely fatal. 72% of all infections were asymptomatic; 24% resulted in mild illness; 1-5% resulted in more serious but short-term symptoms. But polio was still feared, due to the <1% of cases that led to permanent paralysis and death in a further 5-30% of them.
jN8GX TIL about a tree in Athens, GA that owns itself and cannot be cut down.
OGk44 TIL that Aldi employees used to memorise the price of every item in store; the stores used to only stock 650 items and saved money on electronic sales systems to keep prices down. Aldi employees were paid much more than other supermarket workers, but those who failed 'the test' were sacked.
W70LY TIL - Some species of sea turtles can absorb oxygen through their cloacal (genital) orifice, allowing them to stay underwater for extended periods of time without surfacing for air? This method of respiration is called cloacal respiration.