› added 8 years ago

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TIL wheeltappers used to use long-handled hammers to physically tap the wheels of trains, determining from the ringing sound if they were cracked or not.

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ram4 TIL El Duce, member of shock-rock band the Mentors, passed a polygraph test after telling sources Courtney Love offered him money to kill Kurt Cobain. Later, he claimed to know who committed the murder; he was found dead two days later. (More links inside)
R7Pa TIL roughly 14% of humans do not have a Palmaris longus muscle in their arm. Presence can be checked by touching pinkie to thumb and flexing the wrist.
rRXkw TIL men in Turkey can avoid military service on the grounds of homosexuality. To avoid any 'false' applications, men must provide multiple pictures of themselves having gay sex in the bottom position with a clearly visible face.
yVyvl TIL that Brooke Greenberg, who died in 2013, was the only person in the world with ‘Syndrome X’, which made her remain physically and cognitively similar to a 1 year old, despite being 20 years old at the time of her death.
b6L6Z TIL: That when cast as a child prostitute in the movie Taxi Driver; Jodie Foster had to undergo psychiatric assessments and was accompanied at all times by a social worker on set. Her older sister Connie acted as her stand-in when it came to sexually suggestive scenes.