› added 4 years ago

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TIL Pluto has five known moons. It is considered by many scientists to be a double planet system, because the largest moon, Charon, is so big (half the size of Pluto itself) that the two orbit a spot in between each other instead of Charon just orbiting Pluto like a smaller moon would.

dZX7 TIL that Fats Waller, jazz musician, was kidnapped by four armed men and forced to play the piano during a huge party ; he later realized he was playing for Al Capone’s birthday, who absolutely loved his music. Some say he played for three days, and went back home with a tip of thousands of dollar.
VM17B TIL that caterpillars don't "morph" into butterflies. Their bodies turn into a protein 'goop' within their chrysalis and rapid DNA-driven cell-division takes care of the rest.
Z81XR TIL that banana trees die after bearing fruit. Also, they are technically plants, not actual trees. They take around nine months to grow up and produce banana tree fruit, and then once the bananas have been harvested, the entire plant dies. New shoots will sprout and start again anew.
5joB TIL of “Anting” a behaviour in which birds rub insects (usually ants) on their feathers and skin. The insects secrete liquids containing chemicals such as formic acid, which can act as an insecticide, miticide, fungicide, or bactericide.
KOn0R TIL that the "Elephant's Foot" in Chernobyl was found to be impervious to a drill, but was able to be damaged by an AK-47 using armor-piercing rounds