› added 1 year ago

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TIL the legendary 70-gun ship Glorioso, carrying treasures from the New World to her native Spain, single-handedly fought four battles against English ships in 1747. This event was called "Voyage of Glorioso".

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xVl1B TIL a lottery scratcher in England was cancelled because too many customers could not figure out which is the higher of two negative numbers
9YVBB TIL: An American called Gilbert Bates marched across England after the civil war carrying an American flag on a bet of 1000 dollars that he wouldnt be insulted along the way. He couldnt get to London because of the crowds who supported him.
v1Yer TIL there is no such thing as a 'triangle player' in an orchestra. The person playing the triangle is called a percussionist and masters at least 35 different instruments.
gMQNL TIL precolonial Mesoamerican maps depicted both geographic features AND its history using logographs showing what an area was (i.e. a hill) and what happened there (i.e. glyphs for battles etc). As it told their stories, Native city-states used their city-maps as state symbols, akin to modern flags
o0EE TIL: Every fig you’ve ever eaten was fertilized by a special wasp which probably died inside it (and you ate it)