› added 11 years ago

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TIL there are over 86 million pet cats in America

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BaDW TIL that the term ‘panther’ refers to a melanistic jaguar or leopard, and is NOT a separate species.
EgEbX TIL the first picture of a human being taken was of a man in Paris in 1838 who had stopped to have his shoes shined and didn't move long enough to be captured in the 10 minute photo exposure time.
kOx4e TIL Hypnic jerks (that jolt you get that wakes you up just before you fall asleep) may well be left over from when we were tree-dwelling monkeys: the jerk reflex prevented us from falling asleep on an unsafe branch.
W7MW4 TIL that during puberty more melanin is released by certain cells, causing the penis and nipples to get darker than the other parts of the body.
5a9R TIL the reason behind spiral stairs being clockwise: In medieval times, they were designed this way in castles, so that attackers running up the stairs had their sword-arm near the center column, while the defenders had more room to swing their sword.