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TIL that Charles Darwin went on an expedition as a naturalist to gather evidence that would refute the notion of evolution. Upon his return, he eventually came to conclude the opposite and created the Theory of Evolution.

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5Vwrn TIL of Jan Palach, He was a student at Prague University in January 1969 when he self-immolated in protest of the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia. 26 other self-immolations were made and Jan became an icon of Czech freedom and eventually a national hero after the Velvet Revolution
n0Rr TIL when the islands of St Kilda were evacuated, the local subspecies of house mouse quickly went extinct as it depended so closely on human settlement
8a8QZ TIL the ship HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen was ordered to return to Australia after a Japanese attack. To avoid another ambush the crew camouflaged the ship with jungle foliage to give the impression of a small island and traveled only at night. It was the only ship of its class to successfully arrive.
eBW4 TIL A man was castaway on an uninhabited island for 4 years and 4 months and survived.
RaMa TIL in India, in order to promote lower birth rates, authorities have created a sterilization lottery. Individuals that volunteer to be sterilized are given 600 rupees and their names are put into a lottery to win televisions, motorcycles, food processors, and the grand prize, a Tata Nano.