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Every single day is an opportunity to learn something new. But even if you’re not actively reading scientific studies or in-depth socio-economic analyses, you can still pick up a lot of new information just by spending time online.

And if you ever wanted to share all those interesting tidbits of knowledge with everyone else, well, the massively popular ‘Today I Learned’ online group might be the perfect place to do it. Its members post the most interesting and unusual facts about the world that they heard about just recently. We’ve collected some of the freshest ones to share with you, Pandas. Scroll down to check them out (and don’t forget to take notes so you can impress your friends later). 

Bored Panda wanted to get to grips with how we can all continue to stay curious about the world and how we can check the reliability of scientific claims. So, we reached out to N. Otre Le Vant, the author of ‘On Progress in Physics and Subjectivity Theory’ and the founder of Inisev. He kindly shared his insights with us. You'll find his thoughts below.

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#1

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) In 2001, a 13-year-old Boy Scout named Cody Clawson went missing for over 18 hours near Yellowstone Park. Clawson resorted to using his belt buckle to signal to planes overhead. Eventually, he got a pilot’s attention - and that pilot was none other than Harrison Ford - who rescued Clawson.

waitingforthesun92 , Maël BALLAND / Pexels Report

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N. Otre Le Vant researches progress in science and uses a pseudonym on purpose because he thinks his name is irrelevant. In his book, 'On Progress in Physics and Subjectivity Theory,' he makes the point that it's the ideas that count, not the people who came up with them. "Just because someone is likable or not doesn't mean all their ideas are good or bad," he told Bored Panda via email. "We should separate the art from the artist."

According to the researcher, we're all born with the gift of curiosity, but some of us end up losing it as we grow older. From his perspective, one reason why we grow less curious about the world is that the social norms that surround us force us into a mindset of accepting things as they are, without question. This means that some people feel pressured to go with the flow of the crowd, switching off their minds.

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"We must resist this 'easy way' and keep the playful, challenging, and 'always asking why' approach that was the main reason we learned so many things when we were kids. If we can retain this mindset, we’ll naturally stay curious," N. Otre Le Vant told Bored Panda.
#2

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) Despite not having played since 2018, MLB player Andrew Toles has remained under contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers so he can continue receiving mental health treatment for his schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

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#3

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) In 2015, a woman's parachute failed to deploy while skydiving, surviving with life-threatening injuries. Days before, she survived a mysterious gas leak at her house. Both were later found to be intentional murder plots by her husband.

sanandrios , Erik Scheel / Pexels Report

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We asked the researcher for his thoughts on how the average person can determine whether the scientific claims they spot online are reliable or not. He was happy to shed some light on this.

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"The scientific method can be summarized as follows: a theory is conceived (supported by evidence) and then exposed to attacks by other scientists. Eventually, only the theories that are still standing after the avalanches of attacks are considered as 'truth'—not as ultimate truth, but only as long as no refutation is successful, or a better theory is found. This approach has proven to be very robust, and we owe almost all of our modern technology and standard of life to it," the author of 'On Progress in Physics and Subjectivity Theory' explained.

"Therefore, any theory that deviates from this scientific method should be regarded skeptically. Examples include theories that are so fuzzy they cannot be refuted, or those claimed to be true without having undergone a thorough scientific review."
#4

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) In the 1960s, Washington D.C.'s poor areas were plagued by severe rat problems until Julius Hobson began catching them by trapping enormous rats, and attaching the cage to his car’s roof and drove to affluent districts where he warned of setting the rodents free, spurring rat control measures.

Algrinder , David Bartus / Pexels Report

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#5

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) On April 18 1930, the BBC's evening news report simply said "there is no news" and then played piano music for the entire segment.

footballmaths49 , Juan Pablo Serrano / Pexels Report

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#6

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) In 2018, a K***er whale named Tahlequah, known to researchers as J35, grieved over her dead calf by carrying it across the ocean for 17 days and over 1,000 miles, refusing to let it sink.

Algrinder , Pixabay / Pexels Report

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That being said, he stressed that we shouldn't ignore new ideas that haven't (yet) been peer-reviewed.

"After all, that’s how all ideas start out. However, these ideas must never be claimed to be true, but regarded as ‘interesting hypotheses’ at best. Those who assert early-stage ideas as definitely true demonstrate a lack of understanding of how easy it is to be wrong and don’t exhibit the level of humility required for progress in science."
#7

Muhammad Ali's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is on a wall instead of on the ground. This is because Ali, a devout Muslim, did not want people stepping on the name "Muhammad".

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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa)
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can respect that. Glad whoever runs the Walk of fame these days makes these considerations.

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#8

Dr. Jessie Lazear, an American physician who studied yellow fever under the famous Dr. Walter Reed. He allowed himself to be bitten by an infected mosquito, and died of the disease himself 17 days later, confirming how the disease was spread. His sacrifice saved millions.

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G A
G A
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Extreme way of proving a theorem, but the world thanks you for your sacrifice.

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#9

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) Weather forecasters tend to exaggerate the chance of rain because if it rains when they said it wouldn't, people get angry, but if it doesn't rain when they said it would, they are happy. This is known as "wet bias."

Lvexr , Kaique Rocha / Pexels Report

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Robert Trebor
Robert Trebor
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That 10% or 20% is to be able to say either, "I told you so," or "Well, it was only a 20% chance."

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Many people fall prey to the illusory truth effect, a cognitive bias where the more often we’re exposed to information, the more plausible we think it is. In other words, repetition makes us believe something is (more likely to be) real, even if the information is thoroughly false. Even knowing about this effect doesn’t make us immune to it… but having more awareness is always a plus. 

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It would take too much time and effort to double-check every single claim, so it’s best to focus your energy on checking the reliability of the outlet. Reliable organizations always show the evidence behind the facts. They also tend to disclose any conflict of interest, use multiple sources to back up their claims, and are quick to update their information if they make a mistake. Even the best sources will make mistakes sometimes, and nobody is completely objective, but some outlets have a solid track record of reliability, while others peddle opinions as facts.
#10

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) There was a girls dance camp nearby when the atomic Trinity test occurred. The girls played in the falling white ash. 10 of the 12 girls died before 40.

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Luis Hernandez Dauajare
Luis Hernandez Dauajare
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

First, that's horrifying. Second, now I want to know what happened to the other two...

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#11

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) Aldgate Pump, a historic water pump held as marking the start of London’s East End. Long famed for its “sparkling, agreeable” water, it was later found that this rich mineral taste came from the flesh and bones of nearby cemeteries leeching into the water. The tainted water killed hundreds.

Chemical-Elk-1299 , Matt Brown / Wikimedia Report

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David
David
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Waiter: "Would you like some mineral water to go with your soylent green?"

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#12

Viggo Mortensen wore his Russian gangster make up tattoos to a Russian restaurant while filming Eastern Promises. The Russian diners fell silent out of fear until Viggo identified himself and said the tattoos were for a movie. After that he removed the tattoos after every workday.

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If you spend even a moderate amount of time on the internet and social media, it’s quite likely that you’ve stumbled across a post written by someone from the ‘Today I Learned,’ aka TIL, community.

The subreddit is absolutely sprawling, currently boasting some 36 million members from all corners of the Earth. The common threads that unite them are a thirst for new knowledge as well as the entertainment factor folks get from reading what others have to share.
#13

The Boots Theory of Socioeconomic Unfairness: poor people buy cheap products that need to be replaced repeatedly, proving more expensive in the long run than more expensive items.

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#14

Octopuses deliberately throw shells at each other. Researchers found that 66% of throws were made by females, often in response to mating attempts. For a creature with no thumbs or rotator cuffs, they had a 17% hit rate.

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G A
G A
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Domestic abuse in the cephalopod community reaches epidemic proportions....

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#15

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) Chief Baker of the Titanic, Charles Joughin, survived by getting smashed on Brandy and calmly paddling around until dawn when he was rescued by a lifeboat. He was also one of the last people off the ship, riding the stern rail into the sea like an elevator.

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Luis Hernandez Dauajare
Luis Hernandez Dauajare
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He actually appears in the movie. He is the portly, moustachied man wearing white that is next to Rose and Jack when the ship takes the final plunge. You can even see him taking a swig of the bottle in the deleted scenes.

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The TIL community is very strict when it comes to sharing facts. The moderators demand that their members only post facts that are accurate, verified, and supported by reputable sources. There’s no room here for personal opinions, political posts, or anecdotes.

What’s more, you’re not allowed to refer to sources that are more recent than two months. All of this helps ensure that the facts shared on r/todayilearned are as accurate as possible. That, along with the fun factor, is a huge draw for many internet users. It’s education and entertainment (aka edutainment) in one place.

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#16

That 'Rocky' (1976) was inspired by the true story of Chuck Wepner, a local boxer from New Jersey who was set up for a dream fight with Muhammad Ali. Wepner quit his job to train full time, and against all odds, lasted 15 rounds with the champ. Stallone was in the audience.

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#17

A man survived two separate bear attacks in one day, After the first attack, where he was bitten on the head and arms, he played dead to make the bear lose interest. Despite the ordeal, he walked three miles to his truck, only to be attacked again by the same bear and miraculously survived.

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#18

The reason why animal shelters are full of huskies, is because of the TV show Game of Thrones. Everyone wanted their own real life dire Wolf, but then abandoned them after they realize how much work they are.

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sturmwesen
sturmwesen
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't know how often I had to tell people with no dog experience that working breeds need work. doesn't matter if a sled dog, herding dog or hunting dog.

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Which of these featured facts blew your mind the most, Pandas? Have you learned something interesting recently that you’d like to share with everyone else? How do you stay curious about the world when you've got so many responsibilities weighing on you? Tell us all about it in the comments. 
#19

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) 287 years is the longest a library book was overdue. While writing a biography on Colonel Robert Walpole in 1956, Prof. John Plumb returned a history book to the Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge after Walpole had checked it out around the year 1667.

SeizeOpportunity , Pixabay / Pexels Report

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#20

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) Cold temperatures weaken nasal immunity, making us more vulnerable to viruses. A mere 5°C drop in nasal tissue temperature reduces immune response by nearly half.

textdot_net , Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels Report

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#21

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) War pigs were used by the Romans because the squeals would scare war elephants into fleeing, and cause them to trample their own armies.

notwormtongue , Pixabay / Pexels Report

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Luis Hernandez Dauajare
Luis Hernandez Dauajare
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, those squeals were not by training. The Romans covered the pigs in oil and set them on fire...

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#22

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) in 1915 tipping was so unpopular that 6 states made it illegal to do so.

zinky30 , Karolina Grabowska / Pexels Report

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#23

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) While dogs may not pass the traditional mirror test, they do pass a "smell mirror" test, suggesting they understand the concept of 'self'.

stan-k , Pixabay / Pexels Report

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Julia Ford
Julia Ford
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Elephants pass the mirror test. It’s extremely interesting and also very sad that self-aware and intelligent beings were kept (and some still are) in little zoo enclosures for so long.

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#24

In 1992 Annette Herfkens was the sole survivor of a plane crash that included her fiancé & 28 others. Despite having 12 fractures in her hip, 2 in her leg, a broken jaw & a collapsed lung, she survived 8 days in a Vietnamese jungle on rainwater until a local officer came by & got help.

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Mike F
Mike F
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Good Lord, I've had a collapsed lung and it's no picnic by any stretch of the imagination. I can't imagine how miserable she would have been in her condition.

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#25

Korean serial killer Kim Sun-ja laced her friend's tea with cyanide, causing her to vomit. She told her friend that she would feel better if she drank more of the beverage, but her friend became suspicious and refused, becoming the only known survivor of 6 poisoning victims from 1986 to 1988.

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#26

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) The directors of Tangled held a “hot man meeting” and had all the women from the studio critique Hollywood men to create the character of Flynn Rider.

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#27

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) The largest unfinished church in the world, the Sagrada Família, began construction in 1886. It is expected to be completed in 2026, nearly 150 years after it began construction.

LivingRaccoon , böhringer friedrich / Wikipedia Report

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Jerome Lenovo
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Gaudi were really hard to accomplish (plus the periods when work stopped)

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#28

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) in 1969 Ted Conrad embezzled $215,000 from a bank in Ohio & proceeded to evade capture for the remaining 51 years of his life. He became 'Thomas Randele' & settled in Massachusetts. Described by authorities as a deathbed confession, in 2021 he told his wife & daughter who he was & what he did.

tyrion2024 , Jason Dent / Unsplash Report

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80 Van
80 Van
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

$215,000 in 1969 is equivalent to roughly $1.8 million today (in USD).

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#29

Squirrels terminal velocity is so low they can fall from any height and survive.

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#30

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) Child voice actors for Bluey are kept secret.

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#31

English scientist Henry Cavendish discovered physical laws like Ohm's, Dalton's, or Charles's law and few others as first but they were not named after him because he didn't publish his notes and didn't tell his fellow scientists, propably due to being asocial and shy.

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#32

A mother named Kathleen Folbigg, who was imprisoned for 2 decades for murdering her 4 children. Later, she would be pardoned by the Governor after it was discovered that the deaths were instead due to an extremely rare genetic condition.

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Marie Clear
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

From Wikipedia: Genetic evidence published in November 2020 showed that at least two of the children had genetic mutations that predisposed them to sudden cardiac death.[33] The researchers concluded that the CALM2 mutation carried by Kathleen and her two girls altered their heart rhythm, predisposing them to sudden unexpected death possibly precipitated by their intercurrent infections (respiratory tract infection in Sarah; myocarditis in Laura) and/or by medications such as Laura's pseudoephedrine.[10] Mutations in CALM2 are observed at a very low frequency, occurring in approximately 1 out of every 35 million individuals. The CALM2 gene encodes a protein that plays a critical role in the regulation of heart rhythm.[34]. . .

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#33

2020 study found evidence that arrows fired from medieval longbows could cause injuries similar to modern gunshot wounds. One example is the analysis of a skull that revealed an arrow had left devastating entry and exit wounds that are similar to injuries caused by modern bullets.

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River Daski
River Daski
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6 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

velocity (speed of a bullet) versus weight (sheer mass of an arrow itself); this checks out! ETA: mass!! not volume. XD thank you commenters!

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#34

Archaeologists working in a 2,500 y.o. Chinese cemetery unearthed charred incense burners and burnt stones that tested high for cannabinol, which is released when THC is burned. "Unlike many wild varieties, the cannabis smoked at the site [...] was pretty potent stuff."

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#35

King Cobra is not a cobra. It is the sole species of its genus and happens to look a lot like a cobra.

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Surenu
Surenu
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The legitimacy of its royal title is hotly debated, too.

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#36

LaMarcus Thompson, the father of the American roller coaster, invented the first coasters on Coney Island because he thought the world was too sinful and needed more moral entertainment.

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#37

Infants under one year old should not be fed honey.

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River Daski
River Daski
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

this is because there is natural botulism in honey; it's not enough to make older people sick, but it's enough to overwhelm a baby's still-strengthening immune system

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#38

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) creator of Wonder Woman was in a thruple that involved his first wife and his student. They were heavily into bondage which inspired early iterations of the super heroine. Thruple lasted 22 years all the way to his death

HauntingArtichoke830 , Mark Anderson / FLickr Report

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glowworm2
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He only had one wife. “First” wife makes it sound like he divorced her later and married someone else which did not happen. After his death, the two women, Olive Byrne and Elizabeth Holloway Marston, continued to live together as a couple until Olive’s death in 1990 at age 86. Elizabeth died 3 years later at the age of 100.

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#39

Mocha Dick (the real life inspiration for Moby Dick) was ki***d in 1838 after appearing to come to the aid of a distrought cow whose calf was just slaughtered by whalers. He was known to be friendly until attacked, he survived 100 skirmishes before being slain.

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#40

many English words and phrases are loaned from Chinese merchants interacting with British sailors like "chop chop," "long time no see," "no pain no gain," "no can do," and "look see"

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Bored Potato
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ketchup was from Cantonese. 茄汁 aka tomato juice

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WickedSwicket
WickedSwicket
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Although the original kicap where ketchup was derived from actually refers to soy sauce

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SCamp
SCamp
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

‘No pain no gain’ really? 🤔 Did the sailors interact with Chinese bodybuilders?

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Stephanie Did It
Stephanie Did It
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No pain, no gain has been documented in one form or another since the fifth century.

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DetriMentaL
DetriMentaL
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In Paul C. and my defense. We were quoting Full Metal Jacket lines (mostly South Park on my behalf) wassa hit nd miss if anything

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Paul C.
Paul C.
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Our humour seems to offend. The lines from the films appear to have wooshed over their heads.

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titansterritory
titansterritory
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ancient Chinese secret. Funny that's the 2nd reference in these posts using that line. For who don't know, this is from an old commercial.

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Ace
Ace
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You got that the wrong way round. Pigeon was effectively a go-between language in its own right, borrowing most of its words from English and other colonial languages, a few, but not those listed here, from Chinese and other Asian sources.

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Stephanie Did It
Stephanie Did It
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As GA pointed out, the word is Pidgin, A simplified form of a language.

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Bryn
Bryn
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The majority of English words don't have English origins. 50-55% are Latin, 10% are Greek, 5-20% are Anglo-Saxon, and the remaining are combinations of other languages.

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Pepperoni Pizza
Pepperoni Pizza
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You're talking of American English? That's not real English, just a twisted form of the language.

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Paul C.
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6 months ago (edited)

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Love you, long time, not in there? Edit: Judging by the downvotes, the movie reference has gone woosh over some judgmental heads.

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6 months ago

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#41

in 1988 a U.S. Marine was abandoned and died in the Mojave Desert. Search only started when his weapon wasn't returned.

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#42

The final words of Terry Kath, founding guitarist for rock band Chicago, before dying from an accidental self inflicted gunshot wound were “What do you think I'm gonna do? Blow my brains out?"

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#43

Babe Ruth constantly cheated on his wives during his baseball career. A detective that the New York Yankees hired to follow him one night in Chicago reported that Ruth had been with six women. Another player said that he was not Ruth's roommate while traveling; "I room with his suitcase".

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#44

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) TIL the worst skydiving accident in US history took place over Lake Erie and resulted in 16 fatalities. Due to miscommunications, the skydivers jumped out over water rather than land, and subsequently drowned.

EveryDollarVotes , Xuân Thống Trần / Pexels Report

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Skid Marks
Skid Marks
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Unless it was cloudy.... you would think you could see that there was water below.

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#45

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) The temperature on the moon at the Apollo 11 landing site was 200ºF (93ºC).

linear_majority , NASA Image and Video Library Report

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The Original Bruno
The Original Bruno
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6 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

OK, so this is probably true, but misleading. Temperature is a measure of how much vibrational energy is stored in molecules: the higher the temperature, the more vibration PER MOLECULE [times the mass of the molecule]. The lower the air pressure, the less heat it takes to raise the temperature. This is why at a certain altiitude, the "temperature" of the atmosphere begins to rise like crazy.... the same amount of heat is spread over far fewer molecules. On the surface of the moon, the surface itself may be quite hot because it's directly in the sun without shedding heat only by re-radiation, not by convection. But with extremely little air (not actually quite exactly zero, the sun provides some molecules), you aren't being warmed at all when you're in shadow (except through the bottom of your boots).

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#46

Spelling Bees (competitions where competitors must correctly spell words until one is left standing) don't really exist outside of English, and within English, they're pretty much only an American thing.

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Stardust she/her
Stardust she/her
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They’re also there in India. I was able to get through till state level but unfortunately my exams were on the same day as the competition

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#47

In 1671 a man attempted to steal the Crown Jewels, and when he was caught he was brought before King Charles II, who found him so amusing that not only did her pardon the man, but he also ended up giving him massive lands in Ireland and a pension of £500 a year (£92,000 today).

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#48

Super Bowl XXXIV (34) is known as the "Dot-Com Super Bowl" because it featured 14 ads from 14 different dot-com companies, each paying an average of $2.2 million per spot. Of these companies, four are still active, five were bought by other companies, and the remaining five are defunct.

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General Anaesthesia
General Anaesthesia
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A little more context: Superbowl 34 was played on January 30, 2000. The stock market "dotcom bubble" burst in March, 2000. Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot-com_bubble

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#49

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) That Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Tom Hanks have colonoscopy parties together.

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#50

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) in 1944 the CIA created a manual on sabotaging organizations. Among other things, it suggests to "make speeches... at great length", "refer all matters to committees", "make committees as large as possible", "insist on perfect work in relatively unimportant products"

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#51

Sam White, a Virginia Civil War collector, was killed in 2008 when a 140 year old high explosive cannonball he was restoring detonated in his driveway. The explosion was powerful enough to send chunks of shrapnel up to 1/4 mile away. There were 18 more cannonballs in his driveway at the time.

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#52

One of the biggest bottlenecks in road work is soil compaction. Soil can’t effectively be compacted more than around a foot (30 cm) at a time. Any road work that affects the soil foundation can take months because of this.

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Verena
Verena
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is why "pre-compaction" is used, whenever possible. Heavy soil is stored for several months, sometimes years, where roads are to be constructed. The soil is then used to create other elements, like sound protection.

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#53

In 1993, James Scott purposely damaged a levee and caused a massive flood of the Mississippi River only to stall his wife from coming home so that he could party.

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Stryker Tyger
Stryker Tyger
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Took my Chevy to the levee but the levee was diverted by an a*****e

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#54

Not only does Elmo the muppet have a father, but he's also a soldier who served in Iraq.

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#55

While the Confederacy used the strongest cipher available during the Civil War, the Vigenère cipher, the Union consistently cracked it. This was because the Confederates only ever used three key phrases: "Manchester Bluff", "Complete Victory" and, as the war came to a close, "Come Retribution".

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Mark
Mark
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is like the British breaking the enigma code because the Germans added 'heil Hitler' as a sign-off on every message

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#56

There’s a Criminal Defense of Necessity, where the defendant argues the crime was necessary to commit a greater harm from happening.

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#57

There is a roadside attraction in Plains, Georgia called the Jimmy Carter Peanut Statue. It depicts a large peanut with a big smile (modeled after Carter’s), and was built in 1976 to support his presidential election. Jimmy Carter himself hates it.

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G A
G A
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Billy probably endorsed it for a crate of suds...

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#58

Warren Buffett's (6th richest person in the world) son thought that his dad's job was checking security alarm systems; as a kid, had no idea what his dad did for a living and no clue that his dad was really, really rich

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Freya the Wanderer
Freya the Wanderer
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Probably a good thing to do - prevent the lad from growing up spoiled and entitled.

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#59

Mike Tyson went bankrupt in 2003. Despite having earned $400 million from boxing, examples of reckless spending included $6.3 million on luxury cars and $580K on his 30th birthday party. He has improved his financial situation and now receives $900K/month from his cannabis company, however.

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David
David
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"I was gonna go bankrupt... but then I got high..."

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#60

Nobel Prize winning physicist Gerard 't Hooft had an asteroid named after him, he wrote a constitution for it's future inhabitants including articles that forbid use of imperial measurement units, outlaw the use of apostrophes, and limit the length of tax forms to one page.

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#61

in 2003 rapper Pusha T wrote the McDonald’s Jingle “I’m lovin’ it” but doesn’t own publishing rights for it. Learning from this mistake, he owns 40% from the next jingle he wrote: Arby's “we have the meats”.

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Val
Val
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Does anyone know why they added "For sandwiches" for a bit?

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#62

‘Today I Learned’: 50 People Share Fascinating Things They Didn't Learn At School (New Pics) That following the solar eclipse of August 11 1999, the BMJ reported only 14 cases of eye damage from improper viewing of the eclipse, a number lower than initially feared. In one of the most serious cases the patient had looked at the Sun without eye protection for 20 minutes.

appalachian_hatachi , Luc Viatour / Wikipedia Report

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#63

According to the International Olympic Committee, gold and silver medals are required to be at least 92.5% silver. The gold in gold medals is in the plating outside and consist of at least 6 grams of pure gold. Silver medals are made of pure silver, while bronze medals are 95% copper and 5% zinc.

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#64

Police Academy franchise has produced not one, not two, but four movies with a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The final film, Mission to Moscow, only earned $126,247 against a $10 million budget.

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David
David
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm not sure I knew there were four of them but it is surprising to me anyone would greenlight four.

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#65

Ari Nagel aka "The Sperminator" has fathered over 100 children. He turns down no woman and doesn't charge for his services, although he pays child support for several of them. Three documentaries, including The Baby Daddy (2022) and Spermworld (2024), have featured his contributions.

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G A
G A
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He is like Piers Morgan. A wanker for a living.

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#66

There is a high school in China where students study from 6.20am to 11pm to prepare for college admission exam (gaokao).

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Mark
Mark
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Maybe teach them good study habits and catch them up on modern neuroscience? You can't cram all that information

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#67

Jevons paradox, which states that increasing efficiency in resource usage causes higher demand - sometimes *increasing* usage instead of reducing it.

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River Daski
River Daski
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

see: when freeways have lanes added and they just congest worse than they were before

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#68

Arlington, TX is the largest city in the US without public transport. Despite having 390k population and major stadiums, it have no single bus or rail line.

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Robert Trebor
Robert Trebor
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Basically true, but the Wikipedia article does show this: Arlington also offers Via Arlington, a public, on-demand, shared transportation service in partnership with the TransitTech company Via, which began in December 2017. Riders can request a pickup from a six-passenger van within a designated service area, which covers key destinations within Arlington as well as connecting to the Trinity Railway Express CentrePort Station. Beginning January 19, 2021, this service was expanded citywide. Arlington also partners with Via and autonomous vehicles provider May Mobility to operate Arlington RAPID, which provides on-demand autonomous vehicle rides in Downtown Arlington and on the University of Texas at Arlington's campus and is one of the first services of its kind in the United States.

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#69

"Borderline personality disorder" was named to describe patients who seemed on the borderline of psychosis.

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#70

That John Quincy Adams partially blinded himself looking directly at an eclipse in 1791

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David
David
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So we have had at least two US presidents who stared at a solar eclipse without proper eye protection?

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#71

At the Japanese Setsubun festival, everyone throws roasted soybeans to drive away evil spirits. The only exception are people/families named Watanabe.

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#72

San Antonio's Riverwalk is drained every two years and popular items found at the bottom of the river include cellphones, laptops, and scooters, in addition to chairs, lights and even a stroller.

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#73

Thousands of "low head dams" (aka "killer dams" or "drowning machines") were built on US waterways in 1800s, are nearly invisible from upstream, have killed hundreds of people, often serve no modern purpose, and for all that, are largely unregulated.

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martin734
martin734
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We have many of these in the UK too but we call them Weirs. Here they have to be clearly signposted but they still kill a few people every year.

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#74

85,200 Swiss women lost their citizenships between 1848-1952 when marrying foreigners due to the "marriage rule".

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#75

Starting in 2001, Dell Glover became the "world's leading leaker of pre-release music." He worked at a Universal CD pressing plant & was a member of a file-sharing group called Rabid Neurosis. Over an 11-year period, Rabid Neurosis was responsible for leaking over 20,000 albums.

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#76

USA has 4 of the world’s top 5 air forces- each branch of the military individually ranks in the global top 5.

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#77

Allais Effect refers to the allegedly unexpected behavior of pendulums which is observed to occur only during a solar eclipse.

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Marie Clear
Marie Clear
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6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

LOL, ok flat earther. They've never been able to reproduce this "effect" in a controlled experiment. It's supposedly observed during a solar eclipse to "prove" the earth is not in motion. Any examples of this odd motion is most likely caused by mistakes made by the experimenters. So, everyone who believes there are literally 4 pillars holding up the stationary earth like a big blue pancake, get out your pendulums and sit tight for the next total eclipse! See you in a while!

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