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TIL the first recorded mention of trawling was from a petition to stop its use as a fishing method to King Edward III in the 14th century. The petitioner raised concerns about its effect on the environment.

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PYYon TIL that since 1983 the length of the meter is defined by the distance light travels in 1/299,792,458 of a second.
9wvl7 TIL the term 'pitch black' refers to pitch, a sticky black substance that is obtained from the distillation of wood tar or petroleum.
VM81k TIL: America is named after Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian explorer who set forth the then revolutionary concept that the lands that Christopher Columbus sailed to in 1492 were part of a separate continent.
pRLN TIL that despite being commonly thought of as living in tropical regions, the Venus Flytrap is only native to a 75-mile radius around Wilmington, North Carolina.
x7OD TIL that if you take the Myers-Briggs personality test twice, five weeks apart, there’s a 50% chance you’ll fall into a different personality category the second time.