› added 10 years ago

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TIL that although English is considered a Germanic language, 60% of the vocabulary is of Latin or French origin.

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ko8m TIL that the people of Bikini Island sued the US government for $563 million and won because of damage from nuclear testing. The US government has yet to pay.
OX7L TIL ants enslaved by other ant species (TIL ants get enslaved) rebel against their masters by neglecting the work they’re assigned to do, and even killing the master species’ young. The slaves may not be able to save themselves, but by rebelling they can protect nearby relatives from the same fate.
WWdN TIL there is a town in Alaska which has 220 residents who live in the same 14 story building which includes a school, hospital grocery store and a church.
xgXo TIL Alexander Graham Bell developed the metal detector as a last ditch effort to locate a bullet lodged in the chest of American President James Garfield in 1881; the attempt was unsuccessful because the metal coil spring bed Garfield was lying on confused the detector.
d8QO7 TIL that the planet Neptune, which can only be seen by telescope, was mathematically predicted before it was directly observed for the first time on the night of September 23–24, 1846, at the Berlin Observatory, by astronomer Johann Gottfried.