› added 5 years ago

76

TIL that we shake hands to prove we aren't holding weapons.

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Y4Y7 TIL Power posing to boost testosterone as described in Amy Cuddy’s famous TED talk fails to replicate in independent studies
XyRr TIL in 1960 the Mercury-Redstone 1 rocket blasted off and reached an apogee (height) of 4 inches. The rocket also settled back on the launch pad, undamaged, without tipping over.
ryvw TIL that scientists were able to transplant eye primordia (bits of flesh that eventually grow into eyes) from one tadpole’s head to another’s posterior. Many of the new eyes formed neural pathways to the spine - bypassing the brain altogether - and gave the tadpoles sight.
XE4VR TIL British spymaster Sir Mansfield Smith-Cumming, the first head of the MI6 and the inspiration of James Bond's M, started the practice of using semen as invisible ink during WWI. It worked well, until they realised that the letters smelled awful when received.
JRg1 TIL the USS Pueblo crewmen stuck up their middle finger in photos when they were captured in North Korea. They said it was a “Hawaiian Good Luck sign”. Then the TIME magazine ran a photo and wrote the real explanation. The next day the Koreans found out what it meant, and the crewmen were tortured.