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149

TIL that the Standard Kilogram, a cylinder of platinum that used to be the definition of a kilogram, has been mysteriously getting lighter

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BgVeK TIL that it would cost you about $1350 to buy every Sims 4 DLC
99VB TIL that to attract jaguars to camera traps, field biologists have used the cologne ‘Calvin Klein’s Obssession for Men’. It is believed that the civetone in the cologne resembles a territorial marking.
WvgX TIL that in World War I, Charles de Gaulle would crawl up to German trenches under the cover of darkness and listen in on conversations, gathering vital intelligence.
prOp TIL in 1947 the British used 6800 tonnes of surplus WW2 explosives to destroy military infrastructure on the tiny island of Heligoland. Loss of the island was acceptable. The explosion resulted in one of the largest single non-nuclear detonations recorded. Newsreel footage in comments.
yVvjJ TIL The specific wording "the pen is mightier than the sword" was first used by author Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839, the same guy whose intro sentence “It was a dark and stormy night.” inspired a contest for the worst opening sentence for a novel.