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TIL The Greeks associated the sound of a partridge taking flight with the sound of intestinal gas. This is revealed by the etymology of the word "perdiks", which in their language refers to this bird

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AN9mw TIL in 1965, To simulate an atomic blast, the US Navy detonated 500 tons of TNT on the sacred Hawaiian island of Kahoolawe, cracking the islands groundwater, draining it into sea
xVdxw TIL the Soviet Union captured the first images of the far side of the moon in 1959 using radiation-resistant film recovered from a downed US spy balloon. This technology was essential to protect the film from radiation in space, and the Soviets were unable to produce their own at the time.
jNYPv TIL Queen Elizabeth II is the head of a whopping 16 states.
mNWM TIL On October 23, 1999, BASE jumper and stuntwoman Jan Davis made a protest jump off El Capitan to lift Yosemite’s BASE jumping ban. She died in the process. The ban remains intact.
9Yylp TIL the icon with three horizontal bars representing a menu is called a hamburger button.