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TIL of the actions of Bob Hawke and Michel Rocard. Because of them, Antarctica has been protected from all drilling and mining since 1991. This protection banned these practices for fifty years, establishing Antarctica as a "natural reserve, devoted to peace and science."

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4kN76 TIL that the novels of Brett Ellis, author of American Psycho, occupy a shared universe. Patrick Bateman first appears in 'Rules of Attraction', then in 'Glamorama' (in which he is noted as having "strange stains" on the lapel of his Armani suit) and even appears alongside Ellis in 'Lunar Park'.
yVjPl TiL the shutter sounds cannot be disabled on Japanese mobile phones as a means “to prevent secret filming or other privacy issues."
mRYO TIL in feudal hierarchy of Japan, merchants were the lowest class because unlike farmers and artisans, they don’t actually produce anything. Samurai warriors were in the topmost class.
gMQ1L TIL that eccentric aviator Howard Hughes once paid a gas station employee $156 million after he found Hughes, disheveled and dirty, lying on the highway, and drove him back to his hotel
69Xww TIL of Fidel Castro’s dairy cow, Ubre Blanca, who was specially bred to break the American record in milk production