› added 4 years ago

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TIL that sea turtles basically cry salt (without the emotion). The sea turtles' tear gland evolved into a "salt gland" so that it could expel salt from its body, which is very important for reptilian sea creatures. The substance released is salty brine.

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via reddit.com

o9b8 TIL an Australian was responsible for the discovery of Tritium & Helium-3, conducted the first nuclear fusion experiment and convinced the Americans an atomic bomb was feasible, thus beginning the Manhattan Project.
XEMXr TIL during the Battle of Germantown, in 1777, a cease fire was called due to a small terrier wandering on the battlefield.
vJvB TIL at the 2000 Sydney Games, the stock of 70,000 condoms was not enough for the athletes, prompting a second order of 20,000 additionally. Since then, a standing order of 100,000 condoms has to be made per Olympics to accommodate all the sex that occurs at the Olympic Village during the downtime.
d8YOd TIL that a 1950s and 60s Greenwich Village street poet named Big Brown had an enormous influence on Kerouac and the Beats, Bob Dylan, and proto-Hip Hop with Rudy Ray Moore (Dolemite) and The Last Poets. Dylan referred to his poems as "the best poetry I ever heard".
9wNdm TIL in 2013 a team of snipers destroyed 17 electrical transformers at the Metcalf Transmission Substation in CA, described as a 'professional job' using 'military-style weapons.' Fiber optic cables were cut prior to the attack and no suspects have ever been publicly identified.