› added 6 years ago

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TIL about Mrs. Chippy, a cat that went on the Shackleton expedition to Antarctica. Shackleton ordered Mrs. Chippy shot when the expedition had to abandon its ship. His owner, McNish, died in poverty and obscurity, some of his last words being, "Shackleton killed my cat."

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80LK TIL there are exploding lakes. Lake Nyos in Cambodia exploded in 1986 after being saturated with carbon dioxide from the volcanic vent below it. The resulting CO2 cloud suffocated 1700 people.
b6pYj TIL that when the US Navy attempted the first flight from the US mainland to Hawaii, one of the two seaplanes ran out of fuel and landed in the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles from the destination. The crew created crude sails from fabric wings, and sailed the plane to Hawaii.
rNEno TIL that the Rambo lunchbox by Thermos in 1985 marked the end of the metal lunchbox era. Manufacturers switched to making lunchboxes with plastic because it was cheaper and because a group of mothers in Florida complained that metal lunchboxes were being used by children as weapons.
yVZ7l TIL Quebec banned all children under 16 years of age from attending movie theaters until 1961 due to a fire in a movie theater that killed 78 people, mostly children and teenagers, in 1927
EEbd TIL that William Whipple freed his slaves when he signed the Declaration of Independance, because he believed that he could not fight for freedom and own slaves