› added 4 years ago

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[TIL] Ernest Shackleton, captain of Endurance, became trapped in pack ice and the ship was crushed on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914–1917. The crew escaped by camping on the sea ice for 2 years until it disintegrated, then launched the lifeboats to reach Elephant Island, 720 m away.

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OGgZ6 TIL In 2018, the president of Turkmenistan ordered the impounding of all dark-colored vehicles in the capital, and the car owners were told they must pay to have them repainted silver or white, because the-then president loved the color white & considered it to be lucky.
E1X4V TIL that an almost entirely white animal might not be an albino but leucistic, which is a very different condition. Albinoism means a lack of melanin and results in pink eyes, whereas leucism is only a partial loss of pigment and the animal has normal eyes.
01Pp TIL That the Soviet Union, and now Russia, have a fail-deadly system which automatically launches a full scale nuclear attack in the event that authoritative command is incapacitated. It uses light, seismic, radioactive, and overpressure systems to activate the launch. It is still in use today.
lo4mN TIL that actor Larry Thomas was paid $2,610.00 for playing the "Soup Nazi" on Seinfeld but since then has earned his living from autograph shows, personal appearances and Cameo.
R7rE4 TIL that every South Korean president living today has either been jailed or is in prison now.