› added 4 years ago

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TIL during WWII, Finland set off hundreds of mines left by retreating Soviets by playing the same polka song about 1500 times

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Brylk TIL that rainforest canopies have their own soil that is completely distinct from the soil on the ground. This "canopy soil" forms on the tops of branches from the death of mosses and plants, and sustains a high richness of fungal species that regulate nitrogen and nutrients in the forest.
d8LlB TIL the UK has been in a war somewhere every year since 1936.
97jM TIL California almonds suck as much water annually as Los Angeles uses in three years
AWx4 TIL that Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis dropped the mortality rate for childbirth from 12% to 2% after he insisted doctors wash their hands in between handling cadavers and delivering babies.
lwNA TIL Country singer Marty Robbins loved NASCAR and even raced his own car. Once, he stunned everyone by running 15 mph faster than his qualifying lap. When NASCAR tried to award him, he rejected it, stating he knocked the restrictors out as he “wanted to see what it was like to run up front for once”