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TIL that in 1885 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers used 300,000 pounds of explosives to annihilate Flood Rock island in New York City's East River as part of clearing Hell Gate for safer navigation. It's been described as "the largest planned explosion before testing began for the atomic bomb".

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bXr4 TIL in 1960, Singapore’s birth rate was 5.4, so the government introduced a policy to stop parents from having more than 2 kids. The fertility rate dropped to 1.44, below replacement rates so the government reversed its policy. The fertility rate has never restored back to replacement levels since
Lkodv TIL raindrops are not actually shaped like teardrops. Small raindrops are spherical due to water surface tension while larger raindrops, having more drag, will flatten out forming a hamburger bun, and even bigger raindrops will become a parashute eventually breaking up into smaller dropslets
6o17 Til that at the United States Naval Academy, “General Tso’s chicken” is served in the main mess hall, as “Admiral Tso’s Chicken”.
5YavD TIL: A 150-foot-deep Texas sinkhole discovered in 1821 became a mass grave in the Civil War era. Bodies of 5 to 36 accused Union sympathizers and postwar supporters of the Reconstruction were dumped in after lynching or other summary execution. In 1999 Dead Mans Hole became part of public parkland.
Oo9aY TIL of the "Giant Panda Kindergarten" in China where 18 cubs celebrated their 1st birthday in 2019. Researchers mistakenly thought pandas liked solitary life & kept each panda in a tiny den; the pandas got depressed & didn't want to mate; this changed when pandas were allowed to hang out together.