› added 11 years ago

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TIL that a Russian scientist accidentally shot a proton beam through his own head with a large particle accelerator in 1978. Reportedly, he saw a flash “brighter than a thousand suns,” but did not feel any pain.

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N7K9e TIL that the Orlov diamond was stolen from the Srirangam temple in India by a French soldier, who sold it to a merchant who smuggled it to Amsterdam, from where it was bought by Count Grigory Orlov, who gifted it to Catherine the Great. She encrusted the diamond into the Imperial Sceptre in 1774.
yVYVv TIL Human metabolism adapted to function best with periods of hunger and eating during the day and sleeping at night. A study found a higher risk of heart attack among men who snacked in the middle of the night compared with those who didn't
p6vp TIL that researchers on a sub-Antarctic island observed fur seals chasing and raping penguins. The researchers speculated the fur seals could be practicing their sexual skills or releasing sexual frustration. In one instance, a seal finished the sexual encounter by killing and eating the penguin.
v1mBr TIL- There are 15 cards in the Yu-Gi-Oh Official/Trading Card Game that were designed by fans. Through several drawing contests 15 designs were picked as winners and turned into official cards in the OCG/TCG, sold in Booster Packs, and are tournament legal.
Orb7 TIL that the ancient Greeks used the term barbarian for anyone who didn’t speed Greek, including ancient Egyptians, as another language sounded like ‘bar bar bar’ to the Greeks which lead to the term 'barbarian’