› added 9 years ago

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TIL: Singapore used sand from rival Indonesia to grow its land mass. This was banned after Indonesians realized they were literally ceding sovereign land to another nation.

Read more nytimes.com

via reddit.com

6E5vJ TIL the lyric “they stab it with their steely knives” from “Hotel California” by the Eagles is a nod to Steely Dan for the free publicity they gave them when the Eagles were mentioned in a lyric from Steely Dan’s song “Everything You Did” which goes “turn up the Eagles, the neighbors are listening”.
7rrBX TIL that the original author of Thomas the Tank Engine (The Railway Series) has created an extensive Island of Sodor book with the complete lore of Sodor, from the history of the railway to the island itself. The book is rare, and goes for $500 or more.
j6pRN TIL a Liverpool fan committed suicide halfway through the Champions League final when Liverpool were trailing 0-3 just to comeback to 3-3 and beat AC Milan in penalties
BrXPx TIL that fast-turnaround movies based on real disasters aren't new. The first film about the Titanic was released 29 days after it sank, starring an actress who was a real life survivor of the event. It is considered a 'lost film' after all copies were destroyed in a fire in 1914.
YpKWr TIL about DRACO, a broad-spectrum antiviral that induces cell death in infected cells while leaving healthy ones intact, potentially curing everything from HIV to the common cold. Unfortunately, its inventor has thus far been unable to obtain funding to move forward into clinical trials.