TIL the remains of a species of whale that was unidentified for 30yrs was found to be a narwhal-beluga whale hybrid with features of both. While a narwhal is toothless except males who have a spiraled tusk and belugas have 40 teeth the hybrid has 18 and some look similar to a narwhals spiraled tusk
TIL James Scott, a convicted criminal locked inside a maximum security penitentiary not only competed in sanctioned, professional boxing matches, but performed on national television and was officially ranked at the top of the light heavyweight division.
TIL When Sweden switched one day from driving on the left to driving on the right, it was feared that it'd result a huge increase in road death that year. In fact, the rate decreased, which was put down to Swedes driving extra cautiously
TIL that while same-sex marriage is legal federally in the U.S., it is still not legal on a number of native reservations.
TIL Victorian London was frantically looking for a solution for what to do with all their dead, and Architect Thomas Wilson proposed the Metropolitan Sepulchre, a 94 story "Death Pyramid." It would have dominated London's skyline and housed up to 5 million bodies, and even received financial support
TIL a 2017 study found that the average adult currently enjoys sex 54 times a year, which equates to about once a week. Another study published in 2015 found that the once weekly frequency was the Goldilocks standard for happiness.
TIL a boy lived for 12 years with only the brain stem, a condition called anencephaly that usually kills before childbirth.
TIL in ancient Korea, rice was used as currency and to pay taxes. A rice payment law was even put in place during the 1600s which mandated collecting rice for state taxes. Consumption of rice was mostly limited to those from a higher socioeconomic status during this time.
TIL Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are, once sent an original drawing to a little boy who had written to him. The boy loved the card so much that he ate it.