› added 11 years ago

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TIL that Citizen once made a series of watches powered only by the temperature difference between the wearers skin and the ambient air.

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1aond TIL that during the Irish Famine, some Protestants offered to feed children, but only if they received Protestant teachings. This enraged Catholics, forced to choose between their children and faith. This stigmatized all Protestant charity, and "souper" remained an insult into the 20th century.
BjJK TIL of Cymothoa exigua, a parasite that consumes the tongue of a fish, attaches itself to the blood supply, and becomes a newly functioning tongue, gorging itself until the host slowly dies of starvation. It’s one of few known parasites that consume and replace a host’s organs.
ADQQl TIL that Marilyn Monroe viewed Abraham Lincoln as a father figure once saying “Most people can admire their fathers, but I never had one. I need someone to admire. My father is Abraham Lincoln…I mean I think of Lincoln as my father. He was wise and kind and good. He is my ideal, Lincoln. I love him”
XWVX TIL that Dick Smothers of the Smothers Brothers, has a son named Dick Smothers Jr, who is a male porn star. He goes by his legal name.
pY4wG TIL Harvey Ball, the man who designed the popular smiley face graphic picture, never applied for a trademark for the smiley image and only earned $45 for his work. His son once said: “He was not a money-driven guy. He used to say: ‘Hey, I can only eat one steak at a time, drive one car at a time.'”