› added 10 years ago

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TIL Katharine Lee Bates, author of ‘America the Beautiful’ was a lesbian who left the Republican party in 1924 over its growing xenophobia

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MeLxa TIL that Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company"), the American oil subsidiary of the Chevron Corporation, illegally supplied oil on credit to Franco's forces during the Spanish Civil War and also shipped oil to Germany to support the Nazis during World War II.
4XGEw TIL that some birds form crèches, a "daycare system" where baby birds separate from their parents and form a group supervised by a few adults, allowing their parents to go forage for food.
nWneW TIL about the Interrobang symbol
8aGoG TIL that capacitive touchscreens (the kind in smartphones) emit a small ammount of electricity and when you touch it, your finger absorbs some of the electricity. This is how your phone knows the difference between an eraser and your finger.
9Y11G TIL In 1997, Boris Yeltsin refused to allow the President of Belarus to let his aircraft into Russia, forcing him to cancel a regional visit. Yeltsin sent a telegram saying the visit could take place only under certain conditions related to the release of a television journalist detained in Belarus