› added 4 years ago

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TIL that sea snakes can die of thirst and rely on rainwater to make pools on the ocean surface in order to survive.

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6pWl TIL In c. 552 two Christian monks, after learning Chinese silkworm cultivation, smuggled silkworm eggs on behalf of Byzantine emperor Justinian, resulting in the Empire’s monopoly over the European silk market and forming the foundations of its economy for the next 650 years (until its demise).
peaN TIL that upon returning to Earth and landing in a field, Yuri Gagarin was asked by an astonished woman if he had come from Outer Space, to which he replied “As a matter of fact, I have!”
d8vpr TIL the schoolchildren who sang "we don't need no education" in Pink Floyd's song "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2" (1979) initially were not paid for their efforts. They were eventually given copies of the album, and the school received a £1,000 donation.
rR9Ko TIL that in India's Padmanabha temple, there's an 800 kg (1,800 lb) hoard of gold coins dating to around 200 B.C, each coin priced at over ₹2.7 crore (US$380,000) in one vault. The rest 6 vaults haven't yet been opened and are believed to have Gold and diamonds worth over trillion dollars.
LQVKp TIL during WWI Momčilo Gavrić at the age of 8 lost his entire family to a heinous war crime, he then enlisted in a nearby artillery unit and identified the location of the enemy soldiers that killed his family, then participated in the bombardment that wiped out that entire enemy unit