› added 7 months ago

31

TIL that powered flight has independently evolved four times in history: in bats, birds, pterosaurs, and insects.

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695E7 TIL at one point the sport of Jai Alai was a gambling alternative to horse and greyhound racing in the US and grew a following in Florida. Today only one fronton, the arena in which it's played, remains in the state.
R5RGw TIL that in 1857 a group of Utah Mormons, disguised as Native Americans, massacred 120 emigrants travelling from Arkansas to California.
ZjvD TIL the Iraqi government spent $78m on bomb detectors that turned out to be glorified dowsing rods. The director of the UK-based company behind the devices was jailed for 10 years.
M7QOm TIL the USA and Canada don't use A4 sized paper, but instead uses Letter sized as their standard which is 8.5 inches by 11 inches.
Y70pB TIL about Chrysomallon squamiferum, commonly known as the sea pangolin or volcano snail. The scales on its feet are made of iron sulfide. It does not require consumption of food as it lives on the energy the bacteria in its gland produces.