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TIL that American singer and songwriter Lady Gaga has a genus of 19 species of ferns named after her.

Read more blog.nationalgeographic.org

via reddit.com

OoAmY TIL: Italian herbalist Pietro Andrae Matthioli declared the red tomato as a mandrake, a halogenic poisonous planet root long associated with sexual desires, hallucinations and temptation because the tomato was similar looking to nightshade, an actual poisonous fruit.
wL8LP TIL of cryptomnesia - when you forget something and then remember it as if it's an original thought. This can cause unintentional plagiarism or convince you that you've got a brilliant new idea, only to be disappointed when it's already been done.
6JvZ TIL that NASA and the JPL released retro/futuristic artwork, available for free, that illustrate what space exploration might eventually mean to the human race.
BrDRD TIL of George Pullman, a 19th century industrialist who built a company town adjacent to his factory, established behavioral standards that workers had to meet to live in the area, and charged them high rents, even as wages decreased.
0wJjy TIL Steve Carell used to be a mailman and during Christmas, he would write notes to kids who would send letters to Santa and put it in their mailboxes. The note read, "Your letter to Santa has been picked up by special reindeer courier."