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TIL that in the 1928 Olympics, a rower named Bobby Pearce stopped in the middle of the quarter final race in order to let a family of ducks pass his lane, allowing one of his opponents to pull ahead. He still managed to get first place out of 8 people and went on to win gold in the finals.

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BZMd TIL that the status of the chameleon in Spain was changed from “endangered” to “near threatened” after it was discovered that the number of individuals had been vastly underestimated. The experts conducting the original census couldn’t see most chameleons as they were so well camuflaged.
oBMmo TIL Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite put into space, transmitted on 20.005 and 40.002 MHz which were detectable by amateur radio operators. After orbiting for about 3 weeks it's batteries had died. 2 months later it burned up falling back into the atmosphere kick-starting the space race.
0wAdL TIL A hitchhiking robot that relied on the kindness of strangers to travel the world was found with its head and arms ripped off, just two weeks into its first American tour.
Ak6w TIL, as a United States citizen, I am 8 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist.
DeLJ TIL One of the first original television programs in America was “The Television Ghost,” which featured dead people telling the stories of their murders.