› added 6 years ago

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TIL that when a bald eagle loses a feather on one wing, it molts a matching feather on the other wing.

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Kb0J TIL that the last Abbasid Caliph failed to use his wealth to raise an army to defend Baghdad from the Mongols. According to Marco Polo, after the city fell the caliph was locked in his treasure room without food and told to “eat of thy treasure as much as thou wilt, since thou art so fond of it.”
KO4VQ TIL that after 15 years, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire's option to 'Ask The Audience' was 92% correct.
nedYr TIL that manatees rely on their farting abilities to keep them afloat. When they have gas stored up, they’re more buoyant and float to the surface. When they fart out that gas, they sink. When constipated and can’t pass gas, they can't swim properly and float around with their tail above their head.
Bg1Yx TIL about the Haymarket Affair, an 1886 incident in Chicago where labors striking for an 8hr workday were dispersed by police w force, killing a protestor. In response at the next rally, a protestor threw TNT at the cops, killing several w several more on both sides dying in the ensuing gunfight.
4kgR6 TIL William Bratton, who popularized the "broken windows theory" to curb crime, is the only person to have led the police departments of the two largest US cities — New York and Los Angeles.