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TIL that English is not the official language of the United States since it doesn’t have one, but it’s the most widely used. Some of the most widely spoken languages other than English are Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese, and Arabic.

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via reddit.com

m1Kno TIL Before the asteroid impact hypothesis was firmly established in 1977, the proposed explanations as to why dinosaurs went extinct included theories such as "The T rex ate all the eggs of the last generation of dinosaurs" and "their brain shrunk until they became too stupid to live"
Jx5k TIL that in Indian elections no voter is expected to travel more than 2km to a polling station. This sees an entire team setting up a full station for a single voter in the Gir forest.
YpKpx TIL that the Ebola pandemic that killed more than 2,200 people could have been prevented if it weren’t for paywalls, given that an article published in a subscription-only journal in 1982 had warned of the risk.
grBjD TIL under suspicion that he might join protests at the republican party convention in 1972, John Lennon was under heavy CIA surveillance. Lennon and his wife were aware they were under surveillance to some degree, but were still shocked once they were informed about the full extent of it
Z8DBR TIL guards of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier wear specially manufactured Oakley sunglasses to protect from the glare of the marble, and are the only military personnel to wear sunglasses as part of their official uniform.