› added 6 years ago

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TIL Submarine R-14, after losing all fuel and communications, reached Hawaii by building a sail out of blankets

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BrQbd TIL about the Grafton castaways, a real-life Gilligan's Island. Shipwrecked for 18 months in the Auckland islands in 1864, the 5 men lived in a thatched hut complete with glass windows and bookshelves. They built a forge to work metal, tanned leather, made soap from seashells, and even brewed beer.
Ar7x TIL that if fraud were a country, it’d have the fifth largest economy in the world.
N7Wke TIL the majority of humans eat rice as a staple crop and 2004 was designated the "International Year of Rice". It was the first time in the history of the United Nations that an entire year was devoted to a commodity.
p8DJp TIL that Cashews (and Mangoes) are in the same family as Poison Ivy. In fact Cashew shells, when freshly picked, cause poison-ivy type symptoms.
Vo9D TIL Sweden warrantlessly wiretaps all telephone and internet traffic that crosses its border