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553

TIL a female swan is called a Pen

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awDXy TIL President Grover Cleveland developed mouth cancer during his second term. Fearing news of this might cause financial panic, he underwent secret surgery on his friend’s yacht off the coast of Long Island, under the cover story of being on a 4-day fishing trip.
M7KJA TIL that in 1942, after the U.S. military created rules that mandated prices and the length of encounters, set curfews and closed most cafes and beaches to sex workers, Honolulu's prostitutes went on strike, picketing the military HQ. After 22 days, the military caved.
7rLYX TIL that in 1787, Swiss scientific pioneer Horace Bénédict de Saussure literally cut off the top of the Alps' highest mountain, Mont Blanc, at 15,344 ft. It is now available on display at Teyler's museum in the Netherlands.
a8jOM TIL the constellation Canes Venatici exists because of a double translation error. From Greek for "club", the Arabic translator didn't know the word and rendered it as "staff with a hook". Then the Latin translator misread "hook" (kullab) as "dogs" (kilab).
97oM TIL After averaging the light from 200K galaxies, researchers have determined the colour of the universe is a pale turquoise green.