› added 5 months ago

35

TIL: There was a Roman pharmacologist named Sextius Niger who wrote that you can increase sexual desire by eating salamanders that were preserved in honey. He was also head of a school of philosophy known as the School of the Sextii which recommended vegetarianism.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

vJnD TIL that Sudbury, Ontario is located within the second largest known crater on Earth, formed by an impact larger than the asteroid that made the dinosaurs go extinct
nnlG TIL a book named Agrippa was released in 1992 that can only be read once before it destroys itself. It also includes a floppy disk with a 300 word poem designed to corrupt itself after a single read. It cost $450.
w0QE TIL that when people self-injure, e.g., cut themselves with razors, the brain immediately stops repeating painful thoughts, such as, “I am worthless and unlovable”, and releases a flood of soothing endorphins.
QNlKk TIL queen bumblebees are the only bumblebees to survive winter. Since queens are necessary to start colonies in the springtime, killing an existing bee colony (with future queens) can destroy several generations of bumblebees.
rNV7o TIL that Tic-Tacs were launched under the name “Refreshing Mints.” They changed the name a year later based on the distinctive clicking noise made by opening and closing the package.