› added 10 years ago

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TIL That Gangkhar Puensum, a mountain in Bhutan is the worlds last unclimbed mountain. It’s because at first since 1994 it was prohibited in Bhutan to climb mountains higher than 6000m, in 2003 they banned mountaineering completely.

R7vg4 TIL Silly String was invented to be used as an aerosol spray to create an instant cast on broken and sprained bones. It worked, but while testing nozzles it was noticed it produced a 30' string. This inspired the inventor to change the formula to be less sticky, add color, and market it as a toy.
1Am8 TIL that the St. Joseph’s student who serves as the school’s Hawk mascot receives a full scholarship as long as he does NOT stop flapping his wings at basketball games. The mascot is estimated to flap his wings 3,500 times during a regulation game.
ow0R TIL that according to Tolkien, Sam Gamgee is the “chief hero” of the Lord of the Rings. The quest to destroy the Ring only succeeds because of Sam, who repeatedly saves Frodo from disaster, and he is the only character strong enough to surrender the Ring voluntarily and easily.
6EXlJ TIL hippos don't swim. They charge through the water, always maintaining some contact with the riverbed or lakebed, using their feet to bounce off the bottom to propel themselves forward.
m1jLx TIL that in 1926, the Poltiburo of the Soviet Union was made up of seven men, Joseph Stalin, Nikolai Bukharin, Mikhail Tomsky, Grigory Zinoviev, Leon Trotsky, Lev Kamenev, and Alexei Rykov. By 1940, Stalin was the only one of them left alive, having killed all of the other members.