› added 8 years ago

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TIL mules (donkey/horse hybrids) are sterile. 2 instances of mules foaling have been confirmed by DNA testing which showed the mule passed on ONLY her horse genes. This means she’ll foal a mule if a donkey breeds her or a horse if a stallion breeds her, and should be genetically impossible.

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m1Z0P TIL that about 15% of all Tyrannosaurus rex fossil specimens show signs of having been infected with or killed by trichomoniasis, a parasitic infection in the jaw that leaves visible holes in the bone. Modern-day birds, such as falcons and hawks, can suffer from similar trichomoniasis infections.
k651 TIL that after Michael Jackson’s death, Google was so inundated with “michael jackson” search requests, they believed they were a victim of a DDoS attack, and blocked further searches for 30 minutes
ZpV7R TIL About Hazel Scott, New York Jazz singer and barrier buster, child prodigy and superstar of the 30's and 40's, she fought against and prevented audience segregation, had her own TV show and major roles in Hollywood, but ran afoul of McCarthyism which effectively turfed her career.
kO6DE TIL that in Edgar Allen Poe's 1838 novel The Narrative of Arthur Gorden Pym of Nantucket the survivors of a shipwreck eat a character called Richard Parker. Poe called the book "silly," but in 1884 the survivors of a real British shipwreck were tried for eating a cabin boy ... named Richard Parker.
jNxxa TIL Dr. John Fryer of Philadelphia appeared at the 1972 APA convention wearing a rubber mask to deliver a speech about the hardships of being a psychiatrist and gay. His speech was vital to getting homosexuality off the list of mental disorders.