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Learning something new every day can be surprisingly fun, especially when it’s you who decides what topic to focus on each day. Chances are, you already find yourself delving deeper into the topics you never knew you were interested in (for instance, the Bajau people, considered to be the best free-divers in the world) at times, arguably at least partially thanks to the internet.

It’s true – thanks to the online world, learning has never been easier, and one of the things that illustrates it best is the ‘Today I Learned’ subreddit, brimming with fun facts about any and every topic there is. If you’re curious to see what kind of facts the community focuses on, scroll down to find some of them on the list below, and make sure to upvote the most fascinating things you learned from the community today.

If you scroll down, you will also find Bored Panda’s recent interview with an associate professor of history at Southern Utah University, Dave Lunt, who was kind enough to share his views on learning and even some stories about one of the most knowledge-hungry people ever lived.

#1

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool Heath Ledger refused to present the Oscars in 2007 after he and Jake Gyllenhaal were asked to make fun of their "Brokeback Mountain" characters' romance.

9oRo , Focus Features Report

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zububonsai
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3 weeks ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As admirable as this is, I even more admire the approach of Adam Driver, hosting one of the Saturday Night Live event. He took the stage and started talking....and blabbing... and chatting and at the very end he mentioned something along "and here they wanted to air a transphobic sketch but I just dragged on to not let that happen." Legend 😎👏🏻 https://youtu.be/VEvAUeq8Z7o?si=6XKbso7fZ1Dwb4qu. Comment at around 3:50min but all of it is worth watching.

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#2

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool During the siege of Leningrad during World War II, 28 scientists chose to die of hunger while protecting the seed vault at the Vavilov Institute rather than eating the seeds.

giuliomagnifico , Miguel Á. Padriñán Report

#3

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool 2024 is the year the US Dept of Health and Human Services banned hospitals from performing non-consensual breast, pelvic, prostate, and rectal exams for “educational and training purposes” by medical students and practitioners on patients under anesthesia.

emath113 , Online Marketing Report

“I think it goes without saying for most people that learning is a vital part to being human, whether we call it formal education, ‘life lessons’, gaining experience, acquiring wisdom, or anything else,” Assoc. Prof. of history at Southern Utah University Dave Lunt said, discussing the importance of learning with Bored Panda.

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“From the time we are babies, people are learning about their world. And I believe that we never stop learning, although we often go from formal learning to informal learning when we leave school (at whatever age, at whatever level). I would like to think that people remain hungry to learn throughout their lives, but—of course—this is not always the case. Sometimes, as we get older, we grow complacent in our conclusions and our beliefs, but I think one of the goals of formal education is to inspire students to remain ‘lifelong learners’ after they complete formal studies.”

#4

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool The sound a whip makes when you crack it is caused by a sonic boom created when the tip of a whip moves faster than the speed of sound. The whip was also the first man made object to break the sound barrier.

DarthDiggler501 , Cord Allman Report

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Apatheist Account2
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3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Crusty bread and biscuits also break the sound barrier. I don't know if they pre-date the whip or not.

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#5

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool In 200 CE, Roman Emperor Septimius Severus banned all female gladiatorial combat, reportedly after hearing such lewd jokes directed at women in an athletic contest that he feared the sport bred disrespect for all women.

tyrion2024 , antmoose Report

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B.M.
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3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A Classic even now. The men get excited, so the women have to stop doing things men are allowed to do.

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Lunt noted that there are lots of different ideas about what the goal of education should be, from securing a good job, to inspiring responsible citizenship or living a “good" life. “One of my favorite characters from history is Socrates; at least the version of Socrates that we learn about from his student, Plato. Socrates is a good example to me of what a ‘lifelong learner’ might look like,” he shared.

“In 399 BCE, Socrates was put on trial in ancient Athens, and Socrates's speech at that trial is called his Apology. Socrates's Apology—as told by Plato—is not him saying ‘I'm sorry’, but the word refers to Socrates's defense for his actions. Socrates annoyed a lot of people, I'm sure, by constantly asking questions and poking holes in people's assumptions, but at his trial he offered one of the best justifications for learning that I know of. Socrates made no apology for his curiosity. He told the jury of Athenians that ‘the unexamined life is not a life worth living’.

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“The word usually translated as ‘unexamined’ is ἀνεξέταστος, and it means something like ‘not looked into’ or ‘not inquired into’. It may not be exactly what Socrates meant, but I like to think of this sentence as a reminder to always be examining my own life, my beliefs, what I know, and what I'm learning,” Lunt explained, adding another interesting fact to our ‘Today I Learned’ list.

#6

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool During WW2 the Nazis spent the modern day equivalent of 100 million usd to make a underground base in Poland which saw little to no use. Soon after building it they lost the war, and it is now one of the largest bat habitats in Europe.

DoggoDoesASad , Jeffrey Hamilton Report

#7

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool The loudest shout ever recorded was by a primary school teacher who yelled ‘quiet!’ It was clocked at 121.7 decibels and the record has stood for 30 years.

Brendawg324 Report

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#8

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool Dana Carvey underwent heart bypass surgery for a blocked coronary artery, but the surgeon operated on the wrong artery. Eventually he won a lawsuit against the hospital and won 7.5 million dollars, all of which was donated to charity.

walnutstampede , TAS-C Report

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As Assoc. Prof. Lunt mentioned, quite often learning extends way beyond graduating school or university. Some people are so curious, they never stop learning, and Socrates was seemingly one of such people.

“Of course there are more ways to learn than merely sitting in a classroom or listening to a teacher. Going back to Socrates, he very famously was not a paid teacher. He didn't work in a school. But he was extremely curious and always hungry to learn. In one of Plato's dialogues, Socrates asks another philosopher named Phaedrus to forgive him for his many questions, since he (Socrates) is ‘φιλομαθὴς’ (philomathes), which translates more-or-less to ‘a lover-of-learning’ [or ‘fond of learning’],” the expert noted.

“If someone like Socrates, who was so smart and had many people looking to him as a teacher, was eager to learn, that drives home to me the importance of curiosity and inquiry. The world is a big place, with a lot of knowledge in it. We would all do well to learn as much as we can, whether it is in school, on-the-job, or ‘life lessons.’ There is always something out there for a curious person to learn.”

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#9

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool In the Movie "Scream" (1996) there is a section in the credits saying "No Thanks whatsoever to the Santa Rosa city school district governing board" Santa Rosa revoked permissions to film there last minute and cost the production 350,000$.

Super_Goomba64 , Dimension Films Report

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General Anaesthesia
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3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The Santa Rosa city school district thought like P.T. Barnum, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity,”

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#10

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool The "S" in "Harry S. Truman" wasn't an abbreviation. The dude's middle name was literally just the letter S.

preflex , National Archives and Records Administration Report

#11

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool A 2022 California Supreme Court decision allowed bumble bees to be considered a protected species because they met the state’s legal definition of a “fish”.

HauntedHippie , Ivan Evans Report

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Tucker Cahooter
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3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The mind boggles at how broad the definition of a fish must be, obviously living in water isn't one of the requirements

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Discussing the internet’s influence on people’s willingness to or interest in learning nowadays, Lunt pointed out that it sure makes it easier to find information. “I am Generation X, so firmly in middle age, and I remember life before the internet pretty well. Even today, I am consistently amazed at how easy it is to find basic information on the internet – trivia, names, dates, things like that. I spent a lot of hours in college digging through books, flipping through pages, trying to remember where I had read or seen some fact or idea. Now all of that is readily available with a few keystrokes and a search engine.”

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#12

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool A clown saved 300 children during the deadliest avalanche in history. Only 400 people survived out of around 18,000 in the town of Yungay, Peru. The children were attending a circus and a clown led them to higher ground moments before the avalanche destroyed the entire town.

SpecialNeedsBurrito , Håkan Svensson Xauxa Report

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LakotaWolf (she/her)
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can only assume this means that an incredibly high number of those children were made into orphans during that avalanche :( It is wonderful that they survived, but how bittersweet their survival must have been for them.

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#13

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool In world war 2, English soldiers would use passwords that had sounds that the language of the people they where fighting against did not have, so that they could tell if an unidentified person was an enemy soldier tying to infiltrate them by if they said these sounds correctly.

Frisk-256 , U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation Report

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Frank
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Nothing unique. We have a similar story in Flanders, for 1302. The sentence was "schild en vriend", as the prononciation of the "sch" in Dutch is difficult to master for "outsiders" and is even different in different regions and dialects. Just look up the word "Shibboleth" in Wikipedia. That's about this is age old language trick.

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#14

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool US president Benjamin Harrison was widowed while in office in 1892. Four years later, Harrison married his dead wife's niece and had a daughter with her. His adult children who were around 40 years old, were horrified that their father married their cousin and didn't attend the wedding.

Fishblaster69 , Kurz & Allison. Report

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“I suppose that psychologists and educators and lots of other smart people are studying the effects of the internet on human learning, education, memory, and other fields,” the historian continued. “But for me, the advent of the internet has made it easier to find facts and yet made it more difficult to think originally and creatively. Curating a limitless trove of information, some of it accurate, some of it inaccurate, is an impossible task and so, with the internet, ‘learning’ (for me) has shifted to interpretation of sources, understanding cause-and-effect, assessing reliability, and similar processes.

“So, of course, the internet has made it so very easy to learn something new each day; especially via curated and interesting outlets. However, by the same token, the internet has made it easy for inaccurate or incomplete information to spread.

“Internet sites often offer interpretations that deserve more scrutiny, or opinions disguised as facts. This, I think, makes it all the more important for us to remain ‘lifelong learners’ in order to interpret information and assess reliability, and to be willing to update our conclusions when new information emerges. The internet is an enormously consequential and important tool for learning, but we shouldn't let it do our thinking for us,” Lunt emphasized.

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#15

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool Tom Sawyer author Mark Twain invented the clasps commonly used on women’s bras.

JoudiniJoker , A.F. Bradley, New York Report

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realenancy170
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3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He brought adventure and wonder to teenagers with Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, then he left them in total frustration with a simple fastener!

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#16

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool Dictator Muammar Gaddafi had a strange obsession with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He had Libya's most famous composer write her a song called "Black Flower in the White House." A photo album full of pictures of her was also found next to his bed by opposition fighters.

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#17

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool Pirates and buccaneers sometimes engaged in "matelotage", a practice in which male couples would agree to share their incomes and inherit their partner's property in the case of their death.

Kurma-the-Turtle , Alonso Reyes Report

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Bex
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3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Or, you know, they were actually gay and just had lifelong relationships.

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Summing it up, Assoc. Prof. Lunt suggested that having a learning mindset is one of the most important assets that people can have today, especially younger people who are looking for careers and starting out on their paths in life. “Being a learner shows humility – nobody knows all of the answers but we don't always like to admit it. Even Socrates famously announced at his trial that the only thing he really knew was that he didn't know anything.”

#18

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool The native language of the volcanic island Manam Motu has no words for cardinal directions (North, East, West, South). Instead, it uses polar coördinates—with words meaning “towards the volcano”, ”towards the sea”, “clockwise around the volcano”, and “counterclockwise around the volcano”.

kmatt17 , Ása Steinarsdóttir Report

#19

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool Four of the last 7 Illinois Govenors have been jailed.

FrontRowKate , Donald Tong Report

#20

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool During World War II, US comedian Redd Foxx dodged the draft by eating half a bar of soap before his physical, a trick that resulted in heart palpitations.

gullydon , Coast Artists Inc. Report

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#21

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool Earth's magnetic field was approximately twice as strong in Roman times as it is now.

Simopop , NASA Report

#22

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool In 1853, linguist and explorer Richard Francis Burton disguised himself as a Muslim and made the hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca which is required of all Muslims. He later wrote a book about his experiences.

CatPooedInMyShoe , Hulton Archive Report

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Deeelite
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Did anyone else think this was Freddy Mercury at first? I can't be the only one

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#23

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool Local Cretan resistance in WWII was so great that civilians would attack Axis paratroopers as they were landing with knives, axes, scythes and even their bare hands.

CompetitiveNovel8990 , German Federal Archive Report

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nm (he/him)
Community Member
3 weeks ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The Nazi paratroopers faced fierce resistance by the poorly armed civilians and had heavy losses. They never used as paratroopers again, until the end of the war. As reprisals they killed as many civilians they found and razed the village closest to their landing zone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razing_of_Kandanos

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#24

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool Sugar isn’t directly bad for your teeth, but rather it creates the perfect environment for bacteria in your mouth to thrive, and they produce acid as a byproduct which IS bad for your teeth.

chillmanstr8 , mali maeder Report

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Vinay Pai
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3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just like a punch to the nose isn't directly bad for you, but rather it creates the perfect conditions for the capillaries in the nose to bust open, causing pain and bleeding as a byproduct which IS bad for your ego.

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#25

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool Rodin, the famed sculptor, didn’t actually sculpt in marble. He made sand models and his assistants, namely Camille Claudel, made the art we love.

CageHunt , jssgallery Report

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Tracy Lyons
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just like James Patterson doesn't write his own books! he just gives the premise to one of his many ghost writers and they do the work, he gets all the credit and the money.

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#26

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool There was case in US where a person failed to die during electric chair execution and then his lawyers tried to argue that he was not dead but he had been executed and that it was cruel to go through a second time.

No-Breadfruit1626 , Please provide Report

#27

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool Millvina Dean was the last and youngest survivor of the Titanic. She was just over 2 months old when the Titanic sank on April 14, 1912. Dean credits her father for her survival. She was one of 706 people — mostly women and children — who survived. Her father was among the 1,517 who died.

cuspofgreatness , Sw257 Report

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#28

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool Near the end of her life, Ada Lovelace had a religious transformation and began to repent the conduct of her life. After confessing something to her husband 3 months before her death, he abandoned her bedside. It is not known what she told him.

Jugales , Antoine Claudet Report

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Gareth Owen
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3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's rumoured to be something truly unforgivable, like "I've invented JavaScript"

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#29

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool Ivan VI of Russia, who ascended the throne at the age of two months, was overthrown by his cousin Elizabeth Petrovna a year into his reign. He spent the next 20 of his life secretly imprisoned without the guards knowing his true identity, before being killed in an attempted rescue.

Kurma-the-Turtle , anonymous Report

#30

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool In China, water is typically drunk hot.

hewhogotsuspended , Dilara Yılmaz Report

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#31

Catherine O’Hara (Moira from Shitt’s Creek) has reversed internal organs, a condition known as situs inversus.

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Tiger
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can hear it in Moira’s voice. “I have situs invertus David!”

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#32

Levi Hutchins created America's first mechanical alarm clock in 1787 because he wanted to get up at 4am every day. So his device was only set to that desired time and it was another 60 years before Antoine Redier made one that was able to be adjusted to a time other than 4am.

tyrion2024 Report

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Mike F
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3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And poor Levi only lived another year because his wife got tired of the damned alarm clock going off at 4am.

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#33

Julius Schmid arrived in NYC as a penniless, partially paralyzed German immigrant. He got a job at a sausage maker where he started selling the leftover animal intestines as condoms. He grew this into a multi-million dollar business eventually being named "the undisputed king of condoms".

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#34

During a 6-mo period, 2,055 Brown Recluse spiders were collected in a 19th-century-built home in Lenexa, KS. Estimates show that at least 400 spiders were large enough to cause envenomation. A family of 4 had been living there since 1996 and had never been bit despite seeing them multiple times.

Fragzilla360 Report

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Chocolate llama
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3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I mean, typically the average human (even the tiny ones) are not on the prey list of spiders, so yes, the numbers are impressive, but I'm not super surprised the family members were not bitten. Spiders are anyway quite good at minding their own business. If I'd like to live there personally is another question...

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#35

The world's first hard drive, the IBM 350, was introduced in 1956. It was leased to companies for $37,600/month (adjusted to 2024), weighed one ton, and held 3.75 MB, about the size of a small PDF file.

AnthillOmbudsman Report

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Ace
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3 weeks ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Even in the early1980s when I worked in computer operations the standard disk storage devices used in big IBM mainframe systems was a device called the 3350 which weighed about 20kg for the disk array itself (we used to have to change them by hand occasionally) plus the actual machine which was much heavier, and had a capacity of just over 300Mb.

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#36

In Japan, you can hire a person to apologize on your behalf.

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#37

The average cost of obtaining a Driver's License in Germany is 3,000€ or $3,300. The total includes fees for: authorities and exams, learning materials, driving lessons and tuition.

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#38

Glenn Hughes, an American singer who was the original "Leatherman" character in the disco group Village People, was interred wearing his leatherman outfit at Saint Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York.

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Chewie Baron
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3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Glenn was straight, married with children, but took his role as the Leatherman seriously and was extremely proud of what he did for the gay community.

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#39

During the rescue of Maersk Alabama Captain Phillips from Somali pirates the $30,000 in cash they obtained from the ship went missing, 2 Seal team six members were investigated but never charged. The money was never recovered.

xejeezy Report

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#40

Up until the 1980s, all major UK banks had to have their head offices within a 10 minute walk of the Bank of England. This was so that in the event of a financial crisis, the heads of each bank could easily be assembled.

lappy482 Report

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David Andrews
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3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not sure I believe this one is true. Maybe English banks, however the big banks in Scotland for example had their head offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Most had a presence in London as well as it's the financial capital, but the head offices were not there.

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#41

A group of American sugar plantation owners with support of the US Government overthrew the last Queen of Hawaii, Queen Liliuokalani to make Hawaii a US Protectorate. Hawaii would later be annexed.

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Regina Holt
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3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Basically, that is how a lot of the US came to be. Stealing land from peoples that already lived there.

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#42

Although Sweden has the lowest level of people who smoke in Europe (9.3%), it's the only country where noticeably more women smoke than men.

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#43

A Romanian Orthodox priest and four nuns were jailed after they accidentally killed another nun in 2005 during an exorcism. They mistook her schizophrenia symptoms for demonic possession.

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CanadianDimes
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3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's not 'mistook' if you refuse to believe the evidence that it was mental illness and insist on BS supernatural causes.

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#44

The phosphorus used in fertilizer for food production is considered a non-renewable and finite resource we will run out of someday.

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Verena
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

as oil, gas, coal and a lot of other things that require digging or boring. This is the no 1 reason why solar, water and wind energy are interesting, because they are endlessly available, are owned by nobody and deliver themselves for free at the power plants. That they do not emit tinking and poisonous gasses is an added plus.

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#45

While noodles were popularized by Thailand’s government in the 1940s as part of an effort to save rice after a major flood, the first mention of Pad Thai in a cookbook only occurred in the 1960s.

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#46

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool The reason your mouth may feel gross after eating spinach is due to a chemical reaction called “spinach teeth”.

rubywizard24 , Eva Bronzini Report

#47

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool The air force has a program in place that will keep B-52 bombers flying for over a hundred years since they were manufactured.

superanth , US Air Force Report

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TotallyNOTAFox
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3 weeks ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why should they decommission working planes if they can be upgraded? Way cheaper than developing a new platform

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#48

Spongebob Squarepants is credited for creating wider awareness of Leif Erikson Day outside the Norwegian-American community.

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#49

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool In 2000, a convicted murderer on death row's execution was denied because he was "too fat to hang".

MrSilk2042 , Towfiqu barbhuiya Report

#50

While leather is edible, largely containing 60–70% water and 30–35% protein, only leathers that are either untanned or vegetable-tanned can be eaten. Leathers tanned by chemicals like in shoes, wallets, and luggage will not be edible.

UndyingCorn Report

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Luis Hernandez Dauajare
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And still, people in extreme situations like famines, wars, sieges, lost explorers or early settlers have survived by eating leather...

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#51

In 2000, three Scottish sisters took out a 1 million pound insurance policy in the event one of them immaculately conceived the second coming of Christ. They paid £100 a year until 2006 when the insurance company canceled the policy.

Ill_Definition8074 Report

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General Anaesthesia
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3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Interesting. So the insurance company suddenly thinks the risk of immaculate conception is too high to insure.

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#52

The G.I. Piano (a.k.a. Victory Vertical) was a piano made by Steinway for the US military. Meant to be used in all kinds of theaters, it was designed to be small enough to be carried on a ship or parachuted from a plane and to be able to cope with the humidity of the South Pacific.

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#53

Bess Myerson who was the first Miss America, to be Jewish, in 1945. Reactions to her win were mixed, while Jews hailed her a hero and compared her to Queen Esther, 3 out of the 5 sponsors of Miss America refused to have her represent them. She later became a politician.

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#54

To prevent hardware disease, farmers feed cows magnets to bind any metal they eat in the fields.

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#55

A neutrino could pass through a lightyear of lead before it has a 50% chance of hitting a lead atom.

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T'Mar of Vulcan
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Nintendos pass through everything!" - Col. Jack O'Neill (Stargate SG-1)

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#56

The torpedoed rms lusitania sank in broad daylight within sight of the coast in just 18 minutes, killing 1197 people.

-benyeahmin- Report

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Kira Okah
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The surviving 767 people were rescued in some amazing acts of heroism of both other survivors and Irish rescuers. A Royal Navy ship was sortied to the site against RN policy, but was turned back because they were given erroneous reports saying that there was no urgent necessity.

#57

In 2012, a group of British students edited the Wikpedia article about electric toasters and inserted the false claim that a man named Alan MacMasters invented the toaster in 1893. The fake article was cited by newspapers and other organizations until the hoax was exposed in July 2022.

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Bewarethere@gmail.com
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And yet people CONSTANTLY reference Wikipedia as a source of actual fact based information

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#58

“2,055 Brown Recluse Spiders Were Collected”: 30 “Today I Learned” Facts, From Shocking To Cool There’s a secret material called FOGBANK that is used in nuclear warheads. "The material is classified. Its composition is classified. Its use in the weapon is classified, and the process itself is classified.”

[deleted] , U.S. Air Force Report

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Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Got some fogbank to sell, I keep it in my lock up. It fell off the back of a lorry. Cash up front, no returns.

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#59

A U.S. Air Force officer, John Stapp, survived a deceleration of 46.2 Gs during a rocket sled experiment in 1954, experiencing a rapid stop from 632 mph to 0 in just 1.4 seconds.

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Luis Hernandez Dauajare
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Apparently he broke his ribs, lost his dental fillings and was temporarily blind when both his retinas detached. He was also awarded an Ig Nobel prize after his death...

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#60

The 14-year-old actress in Kubrick's Lolita was apparently having a real-life "Lolita" experience with a 32-year-old producer during filming.

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Beak Hookage
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Disgusting, and the next person who calls "Lolita" a "tragic love story" rather than a story about a predator and his victim will be summarily taken out and shot.

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#61

Of Buttergate - a 2021 controversy caused by Canadian dairy farmers adding palm oil to cows' diets, resulting in butter that didn't spread at room temperature.

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#62

Gordon Ramsay robbed the restaurant that he was working in and framed his mentor Marco Pierre White so that they wouldn’t hire him to replace Ramsay.

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#63

Aphantasia is a condition affecting 1 to 3% of people. Its mind or imagination blindness. People with Aphantasia cannot visualize anything in the minds.

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#64

"...Baby One More Time" by Britney Spears was heard by Simon Cowell who knew it would be a hit. He offered the writer, Max Martin an Aston Martin if he would give the song to his boy band, Five. Five initially began writing verses; however, Martin had promised the song to Britney.

Hassaan18 Report

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Beak Hookage
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh man I thought I was the only one who remembers Five! If you got the feelin', less of the dreamin', are we getting down tonight? It's just round the corner, tell me if you wanna, Five will make you feel alright!

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#65

The Panopticon prison design used centrally positioned guards to create the illusion of constant surveillance, ensuring low-cost control over inmates behavior.

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#66

Modern broiler chickens have been bred to get so heavy so quickly it can lead to bone deformities.

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Ace
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not helped by the inhumane conditions in which many of them are raised such that they can't get any exercise at all. Free Range eggs and chickens only, please. I've only ever used 'Label Rouge' ones for many years now, which is a French food certification guaranteeing standards of welfare and good farming practices.

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#67

No film has ever won all four acting awards at the Oscars (Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, & Best Supporting Actress) and only three films have ever won three out of the four: A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), Network (1976), and Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022).

tyrion2024 Report

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Michael MacKinnon
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

...The rock with the googly eyes let down the side on the last one....

#68

South Asians are genetically predisposed to higher rates of central body obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

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Luke Branwen
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And yet people are still adamant it's not genetic and we can just... stop being fat whenever we like.

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#69

Frank Abagnale, the real-life inspiration for Catch Me If You Can, fabricated most of his infamous conman exploits, and much of his story was a hoax.

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#70

A group of Jews came to China around 10th century and lived in the heart area of China, Henan province where Yellow River flows and Chinese originated, till middle 19th century when finally broken by wars, all while maintaining their Jewish identity and traditions and even Hebrew language.

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#71

The last Communist leader of East Germany, Egon Krenz, is still alive. He spent 4 years in prison for crimes committed as a high-ranking politician in East Germany. He also still defends the former East Germany, is a Russophile, and believes that the Cold War never ended.

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#72

Strawberry Pop-Tarts are one of the most purchased food items at Walmart during hurricane preparation.

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#73

Over 60 percent of tooth decay involves genetic factors.

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#74

Mickey Mantle, Hall of Fame CF, tore his ACL in his rookie year during the 1951 World Series. He went on to play the rest of his 18-year career on a torn ACL.

beanie_mac Report

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Ace
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I skied unknowingly with a severed ACL for 13 years before it was spotted (and remedied) when I had another problem in the same knee. Being physically strong with good joint stability means that for some people it's not a problem. In my case it may have contributed to ongoing damage, but even that's not certain.

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#75

In 2018 three illegally installed vending machines (that required an 8-inch hole to be dug & filled with concrete) were discovered in Long Island to be selling "crack pipes" disguised as pens for $2 each. The machines were originally tampon dispensers that had been ripped out of bathrooms.

tyrion2024 Report

#76

In Japan you can visit Soineya, a co-sleeping specialty shop. It’s a cafe where you pay for sleeping (literally) or cuddling with a girl you like.

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#77

Bismuth, the active ingredient in Pepto-Bismol, technically has no stable isotopes - however its most stable and common isotope has a half-life more than a billion times the age of the universe. (Some more facts in the comments).

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#78

Strongheart, a male German shepherd who was one of the earliest canine movie stars. Originally trained as a police dog, Strongheart served in the German Red Cross during World War I. Tragically he was burnt in an accident with a hot studio light, dying at age 11 on June 24, 1929.

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LakotaWolf (she/her)
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Strongheart was called "Etzel von Oeringen" when he was whelped, and was brought to the United States at age three because his owner became stricken by poverty and could not support his dog. His owner wanted Strongheart to have a good life with a humane, loving owner, so he ensured that Strongheart entered the Shepherd Dog Club of America show in 1920. Strongheart was accidentally burned by a studio light at the age of 11, but it did not directly cause his death - a tumor formed at the injury site, which led to his death. The German Shepherd breed's lifespan is generally 10-12 years, so Strongheart led a good, long life. (My own GSD, Ember, died at age 12 due to mammary tumors.)

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#79

The cancelation of the US-Mexico Bracero Program indirectly lead to tasteless supermarket tomatoes.

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#80

While practicing for the '92 Olympics, the Dream Team lost (62-54) to an assembled squad of the best NCAA players. Head Coach Chuck Daly had limited Jordan's playing time & also made other non-optimal substitions in order to "throw the game" to teach the NBA players that they were not unbeatable.

tyrion2024 Report

#81

About Jamake Highwater, a consultant on Star Trek: Voyager who made a career out of lying about being Native American.

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#82

In 2007, Hamburg Mannheimer International (HMI), now part of Munich Re, held a party in Budapest with 20 prostitutes to reward 100 of its best salesmen.

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Donna Peluda
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Jesús, that's disgusting, at least one girl per salesman would be the minimum. /I I know people that organised company events and this still happened. The recently organised a training course for a dales team. Basically rented a hotel full of girls and coke. And some blue pills.

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#83

Rikers Island, New York City’s largest jail, is located only 422 feet away from the runway of La Guardia Airport.

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#84

DVD started out as two competing standards by Sony/Phillips and Toshiba/Time Warner. The two ended up unifying into a single project after IBM, Microsoft, Apple, Compaq and Hewlett Packard said they would boycott booth unless they did so.

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#85

After the trailer of Grand Theft Auto VI was released, its featured song, Tom Petty's "Love Is a Long Road", saw a near-37,000% increase in Spotify streams, had almost 250,000 searches on Shazam, and ranked second on the worldwide iTunes chart.

9oRo Report

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LakotaWolf (she/her)
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Only tangentially related, but "Free Fallin' " is my lifelong favorite song. Tom Petty was a great musician - if you've never listened to any of his songs, I recommend giving them a listen sometime :)

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#86

A Far Cry film, based on the video game, was released in 2006. Directed by Uwe Boll, it was a major box-office bomb, making only $743,000 against a $30 million budget.

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#87

The Tiger Keelback snake, one of the very few poisonous-venomous snakes in the World.

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LakotaWolf (she/her)
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It is naturally venomous, but its poisonousness comes from ingesting poisonous toads and sequestering the toxins from the toads into glands into the snake's own body (kleptotoxisism.) So, it technically doesn't produce its own poisonous toxins, but it does produce its own venom.

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#88

A man sued his own search warrant and won the case in the Supreme Court. Titled Marcus v. Search Warrant, he believed the warrant was too vague and was unable to sue any of the agents as they acted within the law.

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#89

Unicode uses elephants as a baseline comparison for cultural frequency when considering whether to add a new emoji.

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#90

Seth McFarlane is one of many waiting to be cryopreserved when they die.

Training-Republic301 Report

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LakotaWolf (she/her)
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If people want to get cryopreserved, it's all good, it's no skin off my back. I can also understand if the person has a disease or condition that is currently untreatable and fatal but MAY be treatable at some point in the future. But I do wonder about the hubris of a normal, healthy person who wants to be cryopreserved. XD

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