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16

TIL that Papua New Guinea still recognizes the British monarch as their ceremonial head of state.

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w1RJ TIL Creationists’ favourite anti-evolutionist challenge to the existence of transitional fossils used to be the lack of transitional forms in the evolution of the whales; until those forms were found.
awrXZ TIL: There have been 60,000 attempts to get across the Berlin Wall. 5,000 people managed to escape through the Wall, with an estimated death toll of 136.
wLQDE TIL that musician Moby claimed in his second memoir to have been in a relationship with actress Natalie Portman when she was 18. Portman denied it, saying “my recollection is a much older man being creepy with me when I just had graduated high school.” Moby canceled his book tour and apologized.
rNYZw TIL of Solomon Lefschetz, a mathematician who lost both of his hands in an industrial accident. He would go on to revolutionize algebraic topology and algebraic geometry.
KYN1J TIL baking soda is used to legally enhance performance. During intense exercise, the environment around the working muscles becomes acidic, leading to the unwanted "burning" sensation. Supplementing with baking soda helps buffer this acidity, allowing the muscles to sustain longer bouts of exercise.