› added 1 year ago

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TIL: There's a rare disorder called Epidermodysplasia Verruciformis, turning people's skin into tree-like bark with wart growths due to HPV. Also known as "Tree Man Illness," the disorder is inherited when an individual inherits one copy, from each parent, of a defective gene.

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69bVl TIL that when a building is framed perfectly by a street it appears to be magnified, same as when the moon looks huge on the horizon, but it is just an optical illusion mind trick. Check out the bizarre way St Peter's Basilica appears to shrink as you move closer in this short clip..
Vrvk TIL that the Nazi’s were staunch animal rights activists with major efforts to limit hunting and general animal cruelty. Göring, in particular, was a professed animal lover who proclaimed bans on both vivisection(Nazi Germany was the first country in the world to do so) and the shoeing of horses.
wobB7 TIL that Lewis and Clark Expedition participant and War of 1812 veteran, Patrick Gass, had to be removed from a recruiting station after attempting to enlist in the Union Army to fight in the American Civil War at the age of 91.
KbYR TIL that despite the claims of the play/movie “Amadeus”, W.A. Mozart and Antonio Salieri were actually good friends, supportive of each others’ work, and there is no evidence that Salieri obstructed Mozart’s career other than the fact that Salieri was more established and well known.
W75QN TIL In an effort to boost the declining birth rate, some Chinese provinces are offering 30 days of paid "marriage leave" to young newlyweds.