› added 1 month ago

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TIL that Sir John Tenniel, famed Alice illustrator and Punch cartoonist, drew the 1851 Happy Families card game for Jaques of London. Shown at the Great Exhibition, it was a hit. Nearly lost in the Blitz, it survived thanks to designs preserved in the factory's safe.

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eG4L TIL that Yellowstone National Park’s geothermal hot springs are capable of dissolving a human body overnight
OoER7 TIL Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins later turned to professional wrestling, where he smashed an opponent over the head with a real guitar.
R5gp8 TIL Kokura was the main target for the "Fat Man" nuclear bomb, but on the morning of August 9, 1945, the city was obscured by morning fog. Because the order was to drop the bomb visually, the pilots diverted about 100 km south to Nagasaki, killing 35,000 people within seconds of its detonation.
oGKY TIL That penguins can drink salt water because of a special “salt gland” that removes excess salt from their bloodstream.
KOEJ4 TIL that in 2007, the islet of Pontinha became an independent nation after the owner, Renato Barros, an art teacher, noticed a legal loophole in the sale charter issued by the King of Portugal in 1903.