› added 1 month ago

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TIL about the experiment to find the world's funniest (most average) joke with the widest appeal. Richard Wiseman created LaughLab, an online experiment for people to submit and rate jokes. Gurpal Gosal of Manchester submitted the winning joke based on a 1951 radio skit written by Spike Milligan.

yn9J TIL Jediism Is An Actual Religion that has accumulated thousands of supporters in recent years (about 5,000 in the United States alone) promoting the idea that all living things are connected and bound together by an omnipresent force.
epDOE TIL the original text for the 13th amendment included the clause that “All persons are equal before the law” but was changed over concern it would recognize women as equal persons.
9wkNQ TIL about the "Book of Negroes", an official record of 3,000 Black Loyalists, mostly former slaves, evacuated to Nova Scotia (and freedom) after the American Revolutionary War
ADNWa The human brain looks like a big, pinkish-gray, wrinkly walnut. There are so many folds in it that, if it could be unfolded, it could be a small tablecloth. Pinkish-gray might not match your decor, but it would be about the right size! This "tablecloth" is made up of the cerebral cortex and is the wrinkly outside layer of your brain. All those folds are responsible for abstract thought, language, and memory. Scientists believe the wrinkles exist as a way to increase the surface area of the cortex, allowing for increased brainpower in a smaller space. In this week’s Today I Learned, neuroscientist and National Geographic Emerging Explorer Steve Ramirez shares some of his smarts on how your cortex is different from your pet hamster’s.
rRZJW TIL about the Xingtian, a Chinese deity. It is said that after he was decapitated in a fight by another deity, he evolved and began to use his nipples as eyes and his bellybutton as his mouth. He is supposed to symbolize perseverance.