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TIL a monkey’s fist knot is used as the weight in heaving a line between ship and dock. Recognizing their potential, drunken sailors began using them as melee weapons in street and bar fights with the knot eventually being adopted by street gangs of the 19th century.

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D68J TIL As a commander in the Navy, L. Ron Hubbard was relieved of command after shelling an island that he thought belonged to the US and was unoccupied. It was a Coronado island south of San Diego in Mexican waters and home to several members of the Mexican Coast Guard.
OoWva TIL that the jumping spider, Nefertiti, was launched to the ISS to observe if it could catch prey in microgravity. It succeeded in catching prey by learning to walk slowly, rather than leaping, as this species usually does. It survived reentry and readjusted to full gravity before its natural death.
r7PW TIL the fat and round “Laughing Buddha” isn’t a depiction of Gauthama Buddha at all, but of a Chinese deity called “Budai”
wL8KW TIL of Tyke a circus elephant who after years of abuse, killed her trainer and injured her groomer. She bolted out of the arena and roamed the streets of Honolulu for about 30 mins before she was finally put down by police. Tyke became symbolic of circus tragedies and a symbol for animal rights.
0wENM TIL a rare 400-year-old shimpaku tree, which was due to be entered in a Japanese beauty competition, was stolen from a roughly 5,000 hectare park run by a fifth generation bonsai master whose family practice dates back to the Edo period (1603-1868)