› added 1 year ago

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TIL that the Guano Islands Act of 1856 allows any US citizen to claim any unclaimed island anywhere, as long as it contains deposits of guano (bird excrements used as fertilizer).

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via reddit.com

J1Q4j TIL Eric Idle of Monty Python responded to physicst Brian Cox's criticism of his "Galaxy song" by creating a sketch where Cox gets run over by Stephen Hawking
yQ68v TIL about "Pele's tears" and "Pele's hair" which are named after the Hawaiian fire goddess of volcanoes, Pele. Pele's tears are small pieces of solidified lava drops, whereas Pele's hair is thin strands of volcanic glass. Pele's tears are often found on one end of a strand of Pele's hair.
X0VE TIL that bungie has a security guard that uses a gravity hammer as a weapon to guard their front door
Z8ykB TIL Mel Brooks was a mine clearer in WW2 “I was a combat engineer. Isn’t that ridiculous? The two things I hate most in this world are combat and engineering.”
VBGPZ TIL Nauru has the highest obesity rate in the world (94.5% overweight, 71.7% obese), caused by the rapid adoption of Western diets after the phosphate mining boom. Traditional diets of fresh fish and vegetables were replaced by processed foods—with devastating health effects.