› added 4 months ago

19

TIL that masturbation was a capital crime in the Puritan colony of New Haven, Connecticut

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neoVb TIL The blue whale is not only the largest animal currently on the planet, but the largest animal to have ever existed
rNKGd TIL why the Colombian government is blowing up oil refineries.
8elP TIL the famous “We can do it!” WWII propaganda poster only achieved popularity during the 1980’s. During the war, it was strictly internal to Westinghouse, displayed only during February 1943, and was not for recruitment but to exhort already-hired women to work harder.
BrR4D TIL that prior to 1996, there was no requirement to present an ID to board a plane. The policy was put into place to show the government was “doing something” about the crash of TWA Flight 800.
6EkJl TIL that what American businessman and astronomer Percival Lowell mistakenly thought were “spokes” on the surface of Venus were actually shadows of the blood vessels in his eyes cast on his retina, his telescope essentially functioning as a giant ophthalmoscope.