› added 10 years ago

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TIL a group of firefighters buried themselves to survive a dangerous wildfire, then adopted a black bear cub who also survived and making him the real “Smokey the Bear.”

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epQ84 TIL about vanity sizing. Clothing companies routinely label their clothes as smaller than they actually are. A labeled waist size of 34" can vary by as much as 6", depending on the manufacturer. There is no consistent standard from one company to the next.
M7YG0 TIL that world renowned swimmer Michael Phelps considered becoming a professional golfer after retiring from swimming and also holds the world record for the longest televised putt at 159 feet
9YQlp TIL John Steinbeck’s dog, Toby, ate his manuscript of Of Mice and Men. There was no other draft. Steinbeck said of the incident, “I was pretty mad but the poor little fellow may have been acting critically. I didn’t want to ruin a good dog for a ms (manuscript), I’m not sure is good at all.”
XEVWr TIL the archer fish's most notable attribute is its uncanny ability to fire a "super-soaker" jet of water to knock down its insect prey into the water where it is quickly eaten. They can spray up to 10 ft with astonishing precision while at the same time compensating for the water refraction angle.
QJxE6 TIL of the 1971 QANTAS bomb hoax, where a $500,000 ransom was paid to disclose the location of a bomb onboard a QANTAS flight that would detonate if the plane flew below 20,000ft. There was never a bomb on board, and half the ransom is still unrecovered.