› added 4 years ago

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TIL about the Battle of Manila Bay (1898) which was a decisive victory for the US Navy where they sunk all seven Spanish cruisers plus a transport ship and only lost one American life: Chief Engineer Francis B. Randall, who died of a heart attack.

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m1wkv TIL that before Esther Williams became an actress, she planned on competing in the 1940 Olympics, but the Olympics games were cancelled that year due to the outbreak of the Second World War.
kOWA1 TIL in 10th-20th century Europe, there was a hated, segregated minority group called Cagots who couldn't marry or live near non-cagots, couldn't touch food & had to use separate church entrances/holy water, despite being the same race as their neighbors. It isnt clear how the segregation started
m1YQo TIL That These Beautiful Blue lobsters are extremely rare. It occurs when the lobster has a genetic mutation ( Roughly 1 in Every 2 Million ).Unlike the others, Nearly all avoid being eaten.(either rehomed or released).
gMJJ4 TIL 3M invented the chemical PFOS back in 1950, used it in many products such as Teflon, Scotchgard, food warppers, etc., but it is now deemed to be toxic and the substance is now found in blood of animals everywhere from polar bears to dolphins to eagles.
dlwQ TIL that NPR posted a link “Why doesn’t America read anymore?” to their facebook page; the link led to an April Fool’s message saying that many people comment on a story without ever reading the article & asking not to comment if you read the link; people commented immediately on how they do read