› added 12 years ago

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TIL that Octopus eyes do not have a blind spot and evolved separately from vertebrate eyes - an example of convergent evolution.

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loj65 TIL: In the 1880s, the Fenian Brotherhood, Irish separatists living in the US, commissioned John Holland to build a submarine to attack British ships. Due to a legal dispute, they refused to pay for the submarine, stole it, couldn't pilot it, and Holland refused to teach them.
GYDAN TIL there are around 6500 languages spoken in the world today, and 2000 of those languages have less than 1000 speakers
xVw4g TIL the founder of the North Face died of hypothermia
DQKoP TIL: That upon its UK release in March 1974, The Exorcist drew nationwide protests around Britain from the Nationwide Festival of Light (NFL), a Christian public action group. Local clergy and concerned citizens handed out leaflets offering spiritual support afterwards to those queuing for the film.
GYoZQ TIL that notorious bank robber, Pretty Boy Floyd, allegedly destroyed mortgage documents at the banks he robbed. This meant that many debts were "erased."