› added 9 years ago

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TIL that there are two libraries in Portugal that use resident bat colonies to protect the books from insects.

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LkaEv TIL the Koh-i-Noor is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world at 105.6 carats and part of the Britain Crown Jewels. It used to weigh 191 carats but it failed to impress viewers in Britain. In 1852 Prince Albert ordered it to be cut. The significant amount of weight loss was due to flaws found.
YDvG TIL that two conductors have died while conducting the second act of Wagner’s opera ‘Tristan und Isolde’. They collapsed from heart attacks at exactly the same point in the music due its technical demands.
9Yjar TIL the Statue of Liberty almost wasn't built in New York because the governor wouldn't use city funds to build its pedestal, but Joseph Pulitzer's newspaper articles inspired 160,000 people to donate. Though a majority of donations were less than $1, they raised over $100,000 in just five months.
M7OWB TIL Filipino movie star Corazon Noble was bayoneted 9 times by WWII Japanese soldier while trying to protect her 10 mo baby, who died after being sliced open 3 times, then helped testify in the postwar crime trials, and is still alive today.
nWJjG TIL the Woodstock 1999 festival was so ill-prepared for the crowd size that portable toilets overflowed and there was no shade from the heat. Attendees started playing in mud to cool off unaware it was contaminated by waste leaking from toilets leading to many cases of trench mouth and trench foot.