Post * 4XjWa — Curious Curator

› added 4 years ago

128

TIL mustard gas, which was used heavily during World War I, is not just a skin irritant but damages DNA by corrupting molecules in the strand. If the victim survives, the DNA damage can lead to the development of cancer.

Read more

XEZLj TIL: Beethoven was not a prodigy as Mozart was and had shown no special abilities or intelligence in his childhood. Even later in his twenties, when he moved to Vienna he had a late start, no report from his early days mentioning him as unique talent or a possible successor of Mozart, Haydn.

9wZdD TIL that around the turn of the 20th century, so many people got tetanus from infected wounds from 4th of July fireworks, it got a nickname of "Patriotic Tetanus".

j6kpj TIL that over 20 detached human feet have been discovered on the coasts of the Salish Sea in the Pacific Northwest, many of which were found in sneakers, rendering the feet buoyant enough to wash up on shore, as well as limiting the degree of decomposition; one such discovery dates back to the 1800s

GYyQg TIL Redheads are more likely to have anxiety about, and avoid going to, the dentist because the same gene mutation that gives them red hair also makes them 20% more resistant to the effects local anaesthesia.

P1nme TIL There is a wasp which lays an single egg inside a ladybird. Once the larva emerges up to 27 days later after feasting upon the ladybirds body, it turns the ladybird into a 'zombie', guarding it as the larva pupates in a cocoon under the ladybird. up to 25% of ladybirds survive this process.