› added 11 months ago

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TIL Nintendo copied LEGO in the 60´s and outsold them for a few years in Japan. Their N&B Block series were very similar to LEGO an way more popular because they had more round shapes. Nintendo stopped the N&B Block series in the early 70s, most likely due to legal pressure from LEGO.

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x7Yk TIL in the online game EVE a player group spent 12 months infiltrating a rival group, then assassinated their leader and stole or destroyed $16,500.00 USD worth of game money and supplies.
YpREA TIL Sir Walter Raleigh, British explorer and historian, first brought the potato to Ireland and planted them at his Irish estate. His cooks, who had never cooked potato before, served the leaves and stems (which are poisonous) making everyone sick. Potatoes were then banned from the court.
4dea TIL David Kirwan, 24 from California, jumped into a hot spring, typically measured at 200°F (93°C) at Yellowstone after his dog escaped the truck and ran into the Celestine Pool, yelping. Several people tried to warn Kirwan off by yelling at him not to jump in, but he shouted “Like hell I won’t!”
wL956 TIL axolotl are a population of larval tiger salamanders that mutated the ability to forego metamorphosis when reaching sexual maturity. They retain their larval gills which enable them to live fully aquatically. They are used in labs to study the thyroid, which regulates their maturing.
WNY4 TIL that Frank Sinatra was buried with a bottle of Jack Daniels and a pack of Camel cigarettes.