› added 10 years ago

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TIL that during the Cold War, hundreds of American agents were caught because staples in USSR passports corroded, while the U.S. used stainless steel thus giving away their origin.

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oBR5E TIL that the Japanese have a word ("shimensoka") that means "being forsaken by everybody" or "being surrounded by enemies on all sides"
jw5a TIL: 8 million years ago, Venezuela was inhabited by guinea pigs the size of tables.
5pRk TIL Federico da Montefeltro, fifteenth-century duke of Urbino, after having lost one eye in a tournament had his surgeons successfully amputate the bridge of his nose to widen his field of view.
1rnd TIL a Dairy Queen in Kentucky accepted a fake $200 bill, giving 198 in change
rRLY0 TIL that d-Tartaric Acid is the opposite of D-Tartaric Acid, so that if you see D-TARTARIC ACID, you have no clue which enantiomer is referenced.