› added 12 years ago

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TIL: A species of mouse howls at the moon and eats scorpions!

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deGj TIL that the first settlers of Madagascar arrived from Indonesia several hundred years before the Bantu people of Southeastern Africa came to the island. As a result, the people of Madagascar have some physical features characteristic of Southeast Asians.
Rd76 TIL that Army officer Hugh Thompson prevented the deaths of hundreds of Vietnamese civilians including women and children, by a group of American soldiers. Thompson, an Army helicopter pilot, landed between the soldiers and the villagers and threatened to open fire if they continued their attacks.
1axpP TIL about "coffin birth", which is the birth of a fetus after the death of the mother. A well known example of this is the murder of Lacy Peterson, who was pregnant at the time of her murder. However, when found, mother and child were separate, the fetus having been "born" after Lacy's death.
9YREp TIL that there is a thing called the "sweater curse." Some knitters believe that knitting a sweater for a signifcant other and giving it to them as a gift will result in a breakup. A 2005 poll found that 15% of knitters have experienced it firsthand.
N785M TIL: Rosemary Kennedy (younger sister of John and Robert) was lobotomised at 23 to deal with mood swings and erratic behaviour. Her mother was informed of this decision after the procedure had taken place.