› added 10 months ago

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TIL Preying mantises are the only invertebrates known to see in 3D.

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b6X6Q TIL that some US spy satellites are named after actresses. Before a presentation to President Reagan, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) worried about mentioning projects codenamed URSULA, RAQUEL, and FARRAH. Reagan said "Those are friends of mine! I love those names!" NRO kept the names.
VMO44 TIL In 1912, Leonardo Torres y Quevedo invented a chess-playing machine that could solve a king and rook vs king endgame. It didn't always deliver mate in the fewest number of moves, nor always within the 50-move rule limit but it would checkmate the opponent every time.
Z8K4a TIL the quote "God helps those who help themselves" originated from Aesop's Fables, and is mentioned nowhere in The Bible.
oBbw8 TIL I learned about the War of Jenkins Ear. Robert Jenkins, a British sailor, allegedly had his ear cut off by the Spanish Coast guard. During a House of Commons 7 years later Jenkins purportedly presented his severed ear and ignited a 9 year long war that engulfed the Caribbean costing 24,500 lives
p5Wp TIL America has been at war for 222 out of 239 years of existence.