› added 10 years ago

299

TIL that Oxford University predates the Aztec Empire

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J1PPv TIL the screech we all associate with bald eagles is dubbed from another bird. This is because the noises a bald eagle makes is pretty lame in comparison.
LkQK9 TIL: Near-perfect ellipsoid lenses have been found among viking artifacts. Hinting that the Vikings likely made telescopes 1000 years ago, 500 years before Galileo.
jn9v TIL in 1951 a researcher discovered something never seen before. Cells from a woman named Henrietta Lacks could be kept alive and grown. 20 tons of her cells have been grown to date.
ADKPg TIL After purchasing McDonald's, Ray Kroc had strict policies for all of his franchises, including only establishing new locations in suburban areas and never in downtowns, since poor people might eat in them after the main business hours were over.
9w7PB TIL of Drosophila bifurca, the record-holder for the longest sperm cells in nature (20x its body-length)