› added 5 months ago

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TIL in 1964 the US imposed a 25% tariff on light trucks in retaliation for tariffs imposed on US chicken by France and W Germany. Soon after, Volkswagen cargo vans and pickup trucks practically disappeared from the US market.

M7Rxb TIL There Used to be an Annual College Football All-Stars vs NFL Game from 1934-1979
BrwRL TIL former US president Grover Cleveland was nicknamed "Big Steve." This was because he was fat.
Ob41 TIL Instead of dividing the backing vocals (low, medium, and high), Freddie Mercury, Brian May, and Roger Taylor, of the band Queen, would record each background part together in unison, twice. 3 part harmony = 18 “voices”. This is considered to be a key element of the “Queen Sound”.
Bg8ky TIL the normal human heart beats about 100,000 times per day and sends over 2,000 gallons of blood throughout the body daily.
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.