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TIL It is estimated that old-growth redwood forest once covered close to 2,000,000 acres (8,100 km2) of coastal northern California. 96% of all old-growth redwoods have been logged.

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8a4vK TIL about the sci-fi novel "Across the Zodiac" by Percy Greg published in 1880, notable for being the first instance of an alien language in an English novel, the first recorded instance of "astronaut", and the progenitor of the "sword-and-planet" genre of science fiction.
XE09Q TIL that at the incredibly popular race track the "Las Vegas Motor Speedway" every once in a while the local sheriffs department will come down to drag race anyone who simply has a license, a street legal car, and is interested, in an effort to take illegal drag/street racing off the public roads.
d8j6j TIL that the phrase "blood is thicker than water" is not what you think it means (at least in its original context)
KOa94 TIL In the late 1500s, two Dutch spectacle makers stacked a number of lenses in a tube and realized that, together, they made items appear much larger than under a single magnifying glass. Because the maximum magnification was only 9x, they were more of a novelty than a scientific instrument
VBRPp TIL in 2019 Namibia mandated white-owned businesses to sell a 25 percent stake to blacks. The rating agency Fitch downgraded Namibia's economic outlook from stable to negative, saying the policy would scare away investors unwilling to cede stakes in their companies.