› added 11 years ago

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TIL Slovak agriculture scientists grew soy beans in the irradiated zone of Chernobyl to see how they would adapt. The plants adapted within a single generation, producing more protective proteins, including one that is known to help protect human blood from radiation.

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gMX1A TIL on Christmas, 1992, George H. W. Bush pardoned 6 Reagan administration officials involved in the Iran-Contra scandal
6EA1W TIL when Mary Queen of Scots was executed, her executioners knelt before her to ask her forgiveness. She granted it saying “I forgive you with all my heart, for now, I hope, you shall make an end of all my troubles.” Unfortunately the headsman missed his first stroke, hitting the back of her head.
Eg6wd TIL Jack Parsons, a pioneer rocket engineer and inventor of the rocket engines later used in the apollo program was also a passionate occultist. One of his rituals, aimed to summon a sex goddess involved Parsons jerking off to magical tablets while listening to a violin concerto
Y7ZkZ TIL that as a student Missy Elliott scored so high on intelligence tests that she skipped two years in school. As a result of the move she felt isolated so she failed on purpose in order to return to her original class.
xJg TIL until the 18th century we had a “single-sex” view of the two bodies, where women were simply cold, “underdeveloped” men, whose penises never dropped. The vagina was an “inside-out penis,” and both men and women produced semen.