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250

TIL The longest-lived animal ever found was a 507 year old clam

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x6vO0 TIL that the US military's use of Native Americans as "code talkers" began during World War I, used more than the Navajo language, and wasn't declassified until 1968 because their codes had remained unbroken.
6EOgX TIL that, contrary to expectations, objects with greater drag generate less heat when entering the atmosphere. This is because a pocket of air forms in front of the object. After this was discovered in 1951, vehicles such as the Apollo capsule were designed to enter the atmosphere blunt-end first.
9vZD TIL, we kiss under mistletoe to honour Balder, the Norse god, and brother of Thor.
VBnm8 TIL 5 schools in the US still use “midget” as a mascot
4XbMR TIL that there is no clear meaning behind the title of Umberto Eco's debut novel, "The Name of the Rose". Eco himself once stated that his intention was to find a "totally neutral title", and "because the rose is a symbolic figure so rich in meanings that by now it hardly has any meaning left".