› added 11 years ago

109

TIL that an artist created a super-detailed self portrait and successfully submitted it as his driver’s license picture.

Read more petapixel.com

via reddit.com

oRyN7 TIL paleobiologist Peter Vrsansky once discovered, in one single spot in Ecuador, "more than 150 cockroach species – more than those currently living in all of Europe"
kOABW TIL that Siam (now Thailand) joined WW1 when it was almost over. They sent men all the way to france to fight alongside Allies. A total of 19 Siamese died, all by disease or accidents except for 1, who died before arriving France. Siam joined victory parade and was awarded confiscated German Ships.
p8wPb TIL that Nancy Sinatra was asked by songwriter Lee Hazlewood to sing one of her songs as if she were "a sixteen-year-old girl who fucks truck drivers". She promptly went on to reach #1 in the US, the UK, Australia, and Canada for "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'."
j6R4a TIL that after the Portuguese defeat in the Siege of Tangier (1437, against Morocco), Prince Ferdinand was held hostage until Portugal returned the city of Ceuta to Morocco. The Portuguese King never did that, despite his brother's pleas, and Ferdinand died in captivity, in 1443.
OoanY TIL in 1989 a US student on spring break in Mexico was kidnapped and used as a human sacrifice by a drug cartel / cult. This is the inspiration for the 2007 movie Borderland.