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TIL The infinite monkey theorem was tried by putting a computer in a monkey cage. "Not only did the monkeys produce nothing but five total pages largely consisting of the letter S, the lead male began by bashing the keyboard with a stone, and the monkeys continued by urinating and defecating on it."

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DWrD TIL Boris Yeltsin signed a presidential decree in 1996 that gave the old Soviet flag similar status as the Russian national flag and it is still flown on certain holidays
loaDa TIL about the saffron crocus flower that is used to make the most valuable spice in the world (by weight)-- saffron. It can take 50,000–75,000 plants to produce 1 pound of saffron.
rNQoy TIL of the "Summer of the Shark." In the summer of 2001, news outlets in the US began extensive reporting on shark attacks, and didn't stop until the 9-11 attacks. The shark attacks were the 3rd most reported story of the year, despite 2001 seeing fewer attacks than average
oL47 TIL in 2016, inspired by an ancient toy called a whirligig, Manu Prakash developed the Paperfuge. The hand-powered centrifuge made of paper, string, and plastic weighs about 2 grams, costs less than a quarter to make, and can spin biological samples in circles at an astonishing 125,000 rpm.
e0o7k TIL: in 1983 a massive landslide in Utah dammed the Spanish Fork river, creating "Thistle Lake" and flooding the town of Thistle, UT under about 200 feet of water. The town had to be evacuated and is a ghost town today.