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TIL that Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s grandfather made his fortune by smuggling opium from China, calling it a “fair, honorable and legitimate trade”

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RpkQ TIL that Mars soil can create fluorocarbons, a greenhouse gas. This can be used to heat the cold planet up, one of the first steps of terraforming.
Oy96 TIL that after a photographer was almost eaten by a leopard seal, the seal realized how weak of a predator this photographer was and tried to teach him how to eat penguins for 4 days.
EQ7o TIL The SS Californian was seen from the deck of Titanic as she sank, saw her distress flairs, heard her wireless calls and had warned Titanic of ‘Ice Ahead’ 3 times that day. Despite all this, Californian did not come to Titanic’s or her passengers aid as she sank. No one knows why.
699VX TIL that most of the world’s electricity is generated by steam. Oil, coal, and even nuclear plants all produce power by heating water to produce steam. The steam is then driven through a turbine, which in turn spins a generator and generates electricity.
VBLr0 TIL before World War II, not many married Western men wore wedding rings. During the war though, married men who were serving in the military started to wear them to remind themselves of their wives and families back home, and it became much more common.