› added 4 years ago

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TIL to explain why there are so many Japanese tourists flocking to see the northern lights, Alaskans made up a lie that Japanese couples have sex during the celestial show for good luck and a blessed child. This lie made it to the NY Times as fact and now it's a common (but false) folklore.

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yVkgv TIL 20,000 leagues under the sea refers to distance traveled and not depth
gMy74 TIL: That an Alberta Firehall has a safe box to anonymously surrender babies that is heated bassinet and has a silent alarm to alert once it's closed.
JxdB TIL about the blue-ringed octopus, which despite being only 5-8 inches in size, carries enough venom to kill 26 humans within minutes. The bites are tiny and painless, with some victims not aware they were bit until paralysis sets in.
kQgW TIL Bananas release one positron every 75 minutes. The antimatter equivalent of electrons. This is due to decaying potassium-40.
E1xLV TIL a group of well preserved wooden spears were unearthed at a German coal mine. They are between 380,000 and 400,000 years old, making them at least 75x older than the pyramids of Eygpt. These are the oldest wooden artifacts ever unearthed.