› added 5 months ago

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TIL that the Guano Islands Act enables any American citizen to annex unclaimed islands containing seabird/bat excrement (guano) in the name of the United States (at the discretion of the President)

Read more uscode.house.gov

via reddit.com

8WLX TIL of Scott E. Parazynski, the only person to have flown in space and summited Mount Everest. Parazynski flew five times in the Space Shuttle and conducted seven spacewalks. In 2008, he failed to summit Everest due to a severe back injury, but succeeded on his second try the next year.
yXpX TIL Five officers once volunteered to stand directly under an exploding nuclear bomb. The only non-volunteer was the camera man.
Ob0X TIL Earth actually has nine continents. Two are completely or partially underwater: the Kerguelen Plateau and Zealandia.
Knwa TIL that the first woman to serve in the US senate was Rebecca Latimer Felton in 1922. She was 87 and served for only one day. She championed prison reform, women’s rights, and education. She was the last member of Congress to have owned slaves, was a white supremacist and openly supported lynching.
7dPr TIL that technically a diamond will not last forever; given enough time, a diamond will decay into graphite