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TIL of Bile Bears which are cruelly “milked” for their liver bile regularly, which is used in traditional Chinese medicine. The bears are stored in cages so small that the bears are unable to turn around or stand for up to 30 years. Most bears eventually die from malignant tumours or starvation.

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nx6W TIL that 125 airlines from 18 African countries are blacklisted by the EU. (banned from operating in European airspace for a lack of safety oversight)… the world’s second-largest and second most populated continent, accounts for less than 3% of the world’s air traffic.
78R1M TIL Simon Bolivar is considered a founding father of Columbia and Venezuela, not just Bolivia.
E1XXw TIL John Cage's 4'33" composition in which no instruments are played was partially inspired by a visit to a sound-proof chamber at Harvard University. Expecting to hear complete silence, he instead heard the sounds of his own body functioning—therefore realizing the "impossibility of silence."
0dMmy TIL that in 2009, the FBI purchases two 20mm Anzio Vulcan Rifles. Each Rifle it is nearly 7 feet tall, can reach 5000 yard and can shot explosive ammo. Till today,the purpose of the guns is unknown.
8Qlb TIL that Benjamin Franklin wrote an essay in which he encouraged scientists to find ways of “improving the odor of human flatulence.”