› added 4 years ago

97

TIL during the siege of Leningrad, a group of Russian botanists holed up in a secret vault starved to death rather than consume the greatest collection of seeds they were guarding for a post-apocalyptic world.

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ABb4 TIL of Shirley Temple’s time as a diplomat. She was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia, as well as the first female Chief of Protocol of the United States.
6ZwQ TIL American workers burnout faster than workers in any other country
eBVJ TIL a substance called Dioxygen Difluoride (O2F2) is so volatile that it makes almost any organic substance ignite and explode at any temperature hotter than -300°F (-185°C). It can literally set ice on fire
ne9NY TIL that in 1452 a Hungarian engineer, known as Orban, offered to sell an extremely powerful cannon to the Roman Emperor. He refused, so Orban instead sold the cannon to the Ottoman emperor, who used it to breach the walls of Constantinople in 1453, which brought the end to the Roman Empire
o4kR TIL It’s only a ‘gaggle’ of geese if the flock isn’t in flight. Once in the air, they’re actually a 'skein’ of geese.