East India Company Bengal tax revenue exports

A trading company became a government by collecting taxes

In 1765, Britain's East India Company gained the right to collect taxes across much of eastern India. Instead of sending silver from Britain to buy Indian textiles, it could now pay for exports using taxes collected from Indians themselves. A business originally created for trade had acquired the financial power of a government.

An octopus can flash a warning without changing color

Under ⅓ Second

A blue-ringed octopus can reveal its brilliant blue warning rings in less than a third of a second. But it does not need to create new pigment. Tiny muscles uncover reflective structures that were hidden beneath its skin. The rings were there all along—the octopus simply switches them into view.

The Arctic tern makes the longest known bird migration

At Least 19,000 Km

An Arctic tern flies at least 19,000 kilometers from its Arctic breeding grounds to Antarctica and back each year. By moving between the far north and far south, it experiences two summers every year.

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East India Company Bengal tax revenue exports

A trading company became a government by collecting taxes

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