› added 10 years ago

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TIL Canada is the #1 foreign oil provider to the U.S.

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via reddit.com

Oo4G6 TIL US Army still has dummy tanks. They have dummy M1 tanks that imitate not only in appearance but also in its heat signature in order to appear real to infrared detectors. These decoys cost only $3,300, compared to $4.35 million for a real M1. It's the same size as a duffel bag when disassembled.
MeDmW TIL the 1100 page epic novel about the history of Japan "Shogun" by James Clavell was inspired by a single sentence in his daughter's school textbook that read "in 1600 an Englishman went to Japan and became a Samurai".
4knKN TIL the wheels of F1 cars are tethered so that in case of an accident they won't fall off and injure people
b96pZ TIL: That Sloths have been around for 64 million years
XEJ5E TIL that the morning singing of birds is called the "dawn chorus". It is mostly male birds that sing in the morning and it is theorized that they do so to show fitness, the air and low ambient noise allows for clearer signal, and it's too dark to really do anything else.