› added 11 years ago

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TIL that one of the first scientists to discover nitrous oxide completely missed its use as an anesthetic because he ended up just using it to get high (having first experimented on it to see if it could cure hangovers)

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pYxXQ TIL about Philippine Airlines Flight 812. A passenger hijacked the plane and robbed the other passengers. He tried escaping using a homemade parachute, but he couldn't jump and needed a flight attendant to give him a push. He was killed after his parachute failed to open. Everyone else was unharmed.
0wAmR TIL one of the rarest butterflies in Australia has a symbiotic relationship with ants who escort the caterpillar to a plant to feed, then bring it back to their nest to watch over while it sleeps. The ants get a sweet nectar in return.
xVbZg TIL the net contribution of the world's oxygen by forests is zero. The real 'lungs of the earth' are phytoplankton living in the oceans.
jMNE TIL Alligator blood can destroy many bacteria and viruses, including HIV!
P1QXV TIL 19th century African-American baseball player Ulysses Franklin "Frank" Grant is credited with inventing shin guards after hostile white players slid spikes-first into black players.