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171

TIL that even though apes have learned to communicate with humans using sign language, none have ever asked a human a question.

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oBEeK TIL the Russian biplane An-2 "has no stall speed" - if the aircraft dips below a certain speed, spring-loaded slats pop out of the wings and the aircraft will "sink at the rate of a parachute".
LQv8V TIL that three of the four presidents on Mt. Rushmore (Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln) worked as land surveyors before starting their political careers
OGYb4 TIL when a coal waste pile collapsed onto the Welsh village of Aberfan in 1966, school lunch lady Nansi Williams saw the disaster coming and flung herself onto five schoolchildren to shield them from the avalanche. All five children survived, but Nansi did not.
MedXb TIL that James Kim walked 16.2 mi enduring freezing temperatures in casual clothes in an attempt to reach the nearest town to get help for his family's stranded car before dying of hypothermia. It was the discovery of his footprints in the snow that led to his family's rescue
KYb0Q TIL that hookworm infection “played a major role in the South’s lagging behind the rest of the country.”