› added 4 years ago

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TIL of Mandeville's 1714 story of a thriving bee community that decides to live by virtue instead of self-interest - and collapses. Adam Smith incorporated this idea of 'private vice, public good' into his work, and today its a foundational principle of Capitalism and Western Civilisation.

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6E40l TIL Coffee was originally chewed. The very first African tribes who consumed coffee actually ground the berries up, added animal fat and rolled their new inventions into little balls which they consumed.
m11OP TIL about the Ni'ihau incident, where a Japanese pilot landed after the Pearl Harbor attack and tried to fight on
dxar TIL that MLK’s mother was herself assassinated shortly before the evidentiary hearing for James Earl Ray, who the King family believes is innocent.
KOr9E TIL - A day on Venus lasts longer than a year. It takes 243 Earth days to rotate on its axis once, but only 225 to rotate around the sun.
9wxlp TIL: Petting baby seals can kill them. Pups are left on shore while their mom hunts. The mother will not return if humans (perceived as threatening) are surrounding the pup. The pup will starve without their mom.