x6mrw TIL a motorcyclist survived after getting knocked out when a pigeon smashed through his helmet visor & caused him to accelerate from 50mph to 140mph while unconscious. He remained on the bike for 200 more yards before he hit a tree. He had 2 skull fractures with bleeding to his brain & a broken leg.
ep5jL TIL there's a species called the European edible dormouse. So named because the Romans used to eat them as a delicacy.
VBNjD TIL from 1896 to 1923, the state of New York passed a law which banned alcohol from being served on Sundays except in hotels that served meals. Bar owners then started offering the cheapest rooms available, and met the meal requirement by offering sandwiches made of rubber.
X0BjR TIL that chickens are tiny dinosaurs and their closest living relative is the Tyrannosaurus rex
OGOj1 TIL a study found that elite sumo wrestlers had significantly more fat-free mass than highly-trained bodybuilders. Data from 37 sumo wrestlers had an average FFM/stature ratio of 0.61 kg/cm, with highest being 0.66 kg/cm. The suggested upper limit in humans is 0.7 kg/cm.
69lbw TIL that Beethoven’s hearing loss may have helped him compose. He used “bone conduction” by clenching a rod in his teeth and pressing it against his piano, to receive perception of the sound when vibrations transfer from the piano to his jaw.
woDN7 TIL that apples have a hollow part in the center in the shape of a star
R5ej1 TIL that during the Vietnam War, U.S. forces faked a vampire attack to scare Viet Cong soldiers by draining a corpse’s blood and leaving puncture wounds to exploit local vampire folklore.
W7rjB TIL: (Toxic to Soil and Plants) Styrofoam is Used in Potted Plants Instead of Perlite
9wBbB TIL that Sao Paulo, Brazil, is the only city in the world with its own air traffic control just for helicopter aircraft in a urban setting, with 13 dedicated helicopter air traffic corridors
nWDwd TIL that “Chemotherapy came to us because of an accident in World War II...it was what the Americans were hiding [illegally as mustard gas was outlawed] in one of the wrecked cargo ship that made the event historic: The U.S. SS John Harvey contained more than 120,000 pounds of mustard gas"
4kPbb TIL of "Miracle flights" - where people fake mobility issues, arrive at the boarding gate in wheelchairs, secure better treatment and better seats, but, once the flight is over, leave the plane unassisted and not needing wheelchairs - in effect, flights miraculously cure these people!