› added 10 years ago

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TIL Turkey Vultures were used by natural gas companies to pinpoint pipeline leaks. Natural gas is odorless, so gas companies add the chemical ethyl mercaptan so that people can smell gas leaks. Ethyl mercaptan is emitted by putrefying animal carcasses. So leaks in gas pipelines attract vultures.

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PYRQe TIL Walt Whitman once wrote a novel in three days advocating against drinking while he himself was drunk.
pAXp TIL Victoria (or Nao Victoria, as well as Vittoria) was a Spanish carrack and the first ship to successfully circumnavigate the world.
nejJP TIL Nazi Germany spent 50% more on the V2 rocket program than the U.S. did on the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb
woNNP TIL Smoking one large cigar is equivalent to smoking 15-20 cigarettes
pGQb TIL that a single fire hydrant in San Francisco survived a massive earthquake in 1906 and aided fire fighters in saving the Mission district. In memory of the event, the hydrant was painted gold.