› added 7 years ago

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TIL In order to stop being routinely flooded, the city of Sacramento CA created a 59,000 acre man made wetland that redirects flooding around the city. It provides a key breeding and feeding ground for hundreds of species.

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XEg9j TIL the word “you” used be only (the 2nd person) plural (“thou” was singular), then it changed to only singular, and today it’s both singular and plural
J16JB TIL that “988” has been designated for mental health/substance abuse/suicide emergencies instead of “911” starting July 16.
jNkZv TIL in WW2 escape compasses for the RAF were sometimes hidden by being made to look like a button (unscrewing the top revealed the small compass). When the Germans found out, they changed to a reverse thread, so trying to unscrew the button the usual way tightened it instead, keeping it hidden.
kQlB TIL that “bagpipe” in German literally translates to “toodle sack.”
kr97 TIL The US overthrew a democratic government in Guatemala, in favor of the dictator Jorqe Ubico, because the United Fruit Company was an American owned company and they didn’t want to pay for the taxes or the import duties on bananas.