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TIL about the SMS Emden, a small German cruiser in the first world war that raided shipping in the Indian Ocean. in late 1914 she sailed over 35k miles around the Ocean, sinking a total of 71k tons of shipping. (more in comments)

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v1Brx TIL that cats only learnt to 'meow' for humans. Cats naturally communicate mostly through scent, then through facial expression, complex body language and touch.
WkGnA TIL Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev pressured writer Boris Pasternak to decline a Nobel Prize for Literature, after publishing his banned novel Doctor Zhivago. After retirement, Khrushchev obtained a copy of the novel and stated, "We shouldn't have banned it. I should have read it myself."
bjmQ TIL that only 17% of paid clinical trials in the US had their results published in the time required by law. Not publishing all trials allows drug makers to hide unflattering results, and helps medicines look safer and more effective than they really are.
eW4L TIL that in order to evade internet censorship in China, people used to refer to the events that took place at Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989 as “May 35th”, among many other alternative names
XEeXD TIL about The Delancey Street Foundation a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco that provides residential rehabilitation services and vocational training for substance abusers and convicted criminals. You earn your GED and are taught 3 marketable skills. It has a 90% success rate