› added 7 years ago

72

TIL the US Army staged a fake war in 1940-41 to test military tactics and doctrine

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wlgE TIL penguins can drink salt water because they have a supraorbital gland that filters excess salt from the bloodstream. The salt is excreted in a concentrated fluid from the nasal passages.
dyP9 TIL that the first group of people to fly the Jolly Rodgers (Flags that indicate a Pirates Ship) was the Knights Templar, who first flew the black flags in the 13th century.
W7gpd TIL some winds have names. They are recognized in certain parts of the world.
8WMK TIL the Swedish word for ‘half-arsed’ or 'not entirely satisfactory’ —halvdan— literally means 'half Danish’
8elP8 TIL the observation of the comet Kohoutek helped to support the "dirty snowball" hypothesis about the composition of comet nuclei. The comet was a disappointment to the public, however, because early projections for its brightness had been too optimistic.