› added 4 years ago

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TIL the Americas were never named after Christopher Columbus, because Columbus believed he had sailed across the Atlantic to India. Instead, the Americas were named after Amerigo Vespucci, the first person to suggest there was a new world.

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0w5mM TIL The real reason your finger and toe prints wrinkle up when in water is to increase your surface area ability to grip things in water. Subjects with wrinkled fingers can grip wet marbles better than those with out wrinkled fingers. Giving us evolutionary advantages in wet environments.
lom9A TIL Link Wray’s “Rumble” is the only instrumental to be banned from American radio
X0ZQj TIL the US Air Force uses C130s to drop toys and supplies in Micronesia every Christmas
lo1BB TIL that scientists have concluded that a Greenland shark is 512 years old. If correct, it means it’s the oldest living vertebrate on the planet.
gMny4 TIL a Coast Guard K9 is always one rank higher than their handler, signifying that the handler works for the dog instead of the other way around.