› added 8 years ago

293

TIL Genghis Khan would marry off a daughter to the king of an allied nation, then assign his new son-in-law to military duty in the Mongol wars, while the daughter took over the king’s rule. Most sons-in-law died in combat, allowing him to build a shield around the Mongol lands.

Read more thetyee.ca

via ift.tt

4Xwy5 TIL A condition among waterfowl called angel wing can be caused by eating bread. In ducks and geese with angel wing, their wings become deformed because the carpal joint grows incorrectly making them unable to migrate. instead of bread, feed corn and peas to ducks and geese.
4Xoeg TIL of Joseph Tartaro who applied for a vanity license plate with the California DMV that said "NULL" as a joke. Because of how computers interpret that word it wreaked havoc in the system and he began to receive dozens of citations in bulk from all over the state.
ELN7 TIL Roman Emperor Caligula once ordered his guards to throw an entire section of the audience into an arena during the intermission to be eaten by the wild beasts because there were no prisoners to be used and he was bored.
JYMDV TIL that over 25% of irrigated land in the US uses groundwater from the Ogallala Aquifer. Since large-scale agricultural extraction began in 1950, its size has been reduced by nearly 10%. Once depleted, it will take 6,000 years for the aquifer to replenish.
E1ZP TIL North Dakota is not “legally” a state according to an error in their constitution. They’re are voting to fix it this November.