› added 4 years ago

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TIL that fossils of sea creatures called Ammonites are considered holy symbols in the folk Hindu beliefs of India and Nepal. They and other marine fossils are found in the Himalayas, which were raised from the now-drained Tethys Sea. Climbers to Mt Everest have brought back fossils of Sea Lilies.

omQA TIL that the Lincoln Town car is the last US luxury car to still use body-on-frame construction, as opposed to a unibody frame, which allows it to be easily lengthened, explaining the car’s full domination of the limousine market
neoRB TIL, that few days after Chernobyl disaster, all children in Poland were given Lugol's iodine. This was one of the few cases, when Polish communist government, despite official denials of the Soviet side and against their recommendations, took action in the best interest of their own citizens.
Z8ynD TIL that a man working at Kmart in the 80s and 90s saved a collection of cassette tapes that were sent from Kmart's corporate office to be played over the in-store speaker system while people shopped. He later digitized the tapes and uploaded them online where they can be heard today.
9Y7Dp TIL in 2017 a Canadian Joint Task Force 2 sniper breaks longest confirmed kill record with 3450 metre shot. The bullet was fired from a McMillan TAC-50 rifle set on a high-rise tower and took 10 seconds to travel towards the fighter.
R7Nv7 TIL it's very likely that military-style flails never existed. They are never described in medieval literature or chronicles. The original inventors were not weaponsmiths but illustrators. The smiths who made them from the 16th Century onward were just copying an idea rather than a thing.