› added 5 years ago

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TIL about Chess960 - a game created by Bobby Fischer which uses the same board and pieces of regular chess, but randomly shuffles the home row to prevent players from relying on memorized strategies and instead rely on their own creativity

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k77W TIL that Daniel Webster tried and failed three times to be elected president. During the same period, he was offered the vice-presidency by both Harrison and Taylor, and declined both offers. Both presidents later died in office, which in either case would have made Webster president.
9YGZG TIL every Shih Tzu alive today can be traced to one of 14 dogs — seven males and seven females — that were used to rebuild the breed when China underwent its Communist Revolution.
xVmmB TIL that Opossums can survive up to 80 rattlesnake and coral snake bites. Thanks to them, there is a new and very inexpensive antidote for many different snake venom. In addition, they eat ticks and don't get rabies.
JO8V Today I learned that the price of admission for a zoo in 18th century England was a dog or a cat – they were fed to the lions.
wLJy1 TIL each soldier in the British army was rationed 3 sheets of toilet paper per day in WW2. American soldiers were rationed to 22,5 sheets per day.