› added 12 years ago

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TIL that many supermarket oranges have their peels dyed orange–not all oranges’ orange peels turn orange by maturity. Their peels are green despite being ripe, so the FDA allows adding color to prevent negative effects on sales.

Read more fda.gov

via bit.ly

4e65 TIL Bahia Bakari, a 12 year old French girl, was the sole survivor of an Airbus A310 crash near Comoros that killed 152 people. She could barely swim and had no life vest, but clung to a piece of aircraft wreckage for over 9 hours before being rescued.
5Yj6R TIL that UPS was founded in 1907 by 19 yr. olds James Casey and Claude Ryan, using two bicycles, a phone, a tiny office in a saloon, and a borrowed $100. United Parcel Service has become a multi-billion dollar corporation.
jNlQa TIL that Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph suffered immense personal tragedies, execution of his brother Maximilian in Mexico, suicide of his son and heir, murder of his wife and finally assassination of his nephew Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 that lead to WW1 and destruction of Habsburg Empire
rN9O1 TIL Goats have rectangular pupils, the weird shape helps them stay aware of their surroundings.
R7J5Q TIL American author Washington Irving lied when he said Christopher Columbus sailed the world in a bid to prove it wasn't flat. The truth is that 'Flat Earth' has not been a mainstream theory since at least 600 B.C. In the 1400s, almost everybody would have known the Earth was round.