› added 4 years ago

71

TIL: that the oil company Shell was started by a man called Samuel Samuel

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YMpB TIL manual gearboxes are lighter, cheaper, give better performance and fuel efficiency. They are the most common type everywhere besides North America and Australia.
ne85Y TIL primary school children in Scotland honored their class pets who had died with a Viking-style ceremony. They crafted boats from cardboard for goldfish Bubbles & Freddy, spoke dedications to the fish, and then set fire to the boat which was to carry their pets to the Viking Gods in Valhalla.
EoQw TIL environmental activist group Greenpeace once accidentally released a fact sheet which said “In the twenty years since the Chernobyl tragedy, the world’s worst nuclear accident, there have been nearly [FILL IN ALARMIST AND ARMAGEDDONIST FACTOID HERE]”.
9Q8r TIL: Kentucky never seceded from the Union during the Civil War, sent more than twice as many soldiers to the Union Army, and yet of the 74 Civil War monuments in Kentucky 72 are for the Confederacy.
8e95a TIL the platypus was initially believed to be a hoax by European scientists who discovered it. The platypus is a unique mammal that lays eggs, has a duck-like bill, a beaver-like tail, otter-like feet. However, indigenous Aboriginal people were already aware of the creature's existence.