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254

TIL that pencil is etymologically related to penis, but not pen

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N7vP TIL the first US Warship to be named after a Black man was so named in 1943 for a sailor that could only get a job in the Navy as a food server, but at the battle of Guadalcanal he deliberately exposed himself to enemy fire to save a shipmate
E1x5W If a predator is lurking nearby, a mother mallard will pretend to be injured to distract it from her brood.
1aRKW TIL that dark roast coffee actually has less caffeine than light roast coffee (per scoop) due to the roasting process it goes through.
aX4Z TIL that the first documented fire tornado occurred in Canberra, Australia in 2003. As opposed to a fire whirl (fire sucked up into the air), a fire tornado is a literal tornado made of fire.
W7jLN TIL the cracking sound created by a bullwhip is a sonic boom, the sound created when an object moves faster than the speed of sound. The whip is most likely to be the first faster-than-sound manmade item.