› added 4 years ago

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TIL a young cadet grabbed the Mexican flag, wrapped it around himself and jumped off the castle point to prevent the flag from falling into enemy hands

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X0pY6 TIL that Toronto's Yonge-University subway line carries over 670,000 people on an average weekday; which is nearly twice the total number of people who ride the 8 lines of the Chicago "L".
Qg96 TIL that Arnold Sommerfield, a theoretical physicist, was doctoral supervisor to 4 physicists who went on to win Nobel Prizes in physics, and academic supervisor to 2 others who also won. He himself was nominated 81 times.
W7NGL TIL the evolutionary leap from egg laying to placental birth may have been helped by DNA from an ancient retrovirus, which coded for a protein allowing cells around the placenta to fuse, blocking the exchange of maternal-fetal blood and preventing the mother’s immune system from harming the fetus.
e06r6 TIL there is a bird that lacks a singing voice to attract mates -- instead it beats its wings faster than the speed of sound to create sonic booms that can be heard by all the females in the area
XYeX TIL while on duty at a Soviet nuclear attack warning station in 1983, Stanislav Petrov’s computer indicated the US had fired several missles. He decided his computer was faulty and urged against a launch. He was right, averting nuclear war, but was not rewarded and was reprimanded by his superiors.