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TIL Bill Broyles, the writer for the movie Castaway, chose to deliberately strand himself for one week on an isolated beach in the Sea of Cortez, to force himself to search for water and food, and obtain his own shelter. During this time, a volleyball washed up on shore.

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b9pMj TIL Pigeons can understand when a flock leader is doing a poor job and course correct. The poor leader will also spend less time as head bird and lose flock mates due to poor performance.
Ovn6 TIL “cow tipping” is nothing but an urban myth. Cows do not sleep standing up, as they are unable to keep their knees locked like some other animals that do sleep standing up.
E1ZZ0 TIL of the events of Black Monday, 1360. On the first night of the Siege of Chartres the English army, lead by Edward III were camped outside the city walls. In half an hour a freak hailstorm, accompanied by freezing rain, killed nearly 1,000 English soldiers and around 6,000 of their horses.
E1gpX TIL that France, Britain, and Ireland are home to a combined 15 of the 20 oldest known buildings in the world. The oldest, Barnenez in France, dates to 4800 BC. Over 2,000 years older than the oldest pyramid in Egypt.
1agDd TIL after the first attempt to assassinate Franz Ferdinand failed due to a mistimed bomb, the assassin swallowed a cyanide pill and jumped into the Miljacka River to kill himself. The pill was expired and only induced vomiting and the Miljacka was only 13 cm deep due to the hot, dry summer.