› added 7 years ago

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TIL we aren't allowed to excavate the area the Graecopithecus (human's oldest direct ancestor) fossil was found because the owner of the property built a swimming pool on it.

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kMkE TIL that a Russian pilot went against regulations and let his 16 year old son sit at the controls of the plane. His son accidentally disabled the autopilot, the plane then crashed and killed all on board.
Y11r TIL When Walter Washington, the first mayor of Washington D.C. and first African-American mayor of major US city, sent his proposed budget to congress, Democratic Representative John L. McMillan sent a truckload of watermelons to his office in response.
R461 TIL: The entire declaration of independence of Indonesia reads: We the people of Indonesia hereby declare the independence of Indonesia. Matters which concern the transfer of power and other things will be executed by careful means and in the shortest possible time. Djarkata, 17 August 1945.
xVKe5 TIL that David Hahn, the "Radioactive Boy Scout" was arrested in 2007 when someone saw him stealing a smoke detector. A search of his apartment found 16 more. Smoke detectors were one of the items he used to get the radioactive material to build the breeder reactor in his mom's shed in 1994.
5xVQ TIL the “earthy” smell accompanied by rain comes from an organic compound produced by Actinobacteria found in soil