› added 10 years ago

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TIL that the Swedish government spent billions of dollars to find suspected Soviet submarines which turned out to be fish that communicate by farting

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V7Pm TIL that the Romans were defeated in 67BC by King Mithridates of Pontus. They ate the hallucinogenic honey that was left behind as a beguiling gift by the Pontian army and were defeated while tripping balls.
wLxd7 TIL of the Queenstown oval in Tasmania. The gravel surface has been in use since 1895 and one long time player claims the best way to deal with it is to "Land on someone"
VP5G TIL that people used to send Vinegar Valentines to those that they despised. These were essentially insult cards with a picture and an insulting poem that were given on Valentine’s Day.
165Kr TIL that Ancient Babylonians did math in base 60 instead of base 10. That's why we have 60 seconds in a minute and 360 degrees in a circle.
1a07O TIL, when Paul Reuter developed his own news agency (Reuters News Agency) he used carrier pigeons to give Berlin news from the Paris stock exchange, as they were speedier than trains.