› added 8 years ago

148

TIL chunks of whale puke sell for as much as $150,000. After aging, the chunks become known as ambergris, developing a sweet musky smell. The material is highly sought after by high-end perfume manufacturers.

Read more washingtonpost.com

via reddit.com

LyK9 TIL that Bob Marley had a small melanoma in his toe but refused the amputation because of his Rastafarian beliefs. The melanoma spread and killed him.
XE4Yk TIL of the "Petticoat duel"; in 1792, Lady Almeria Braddock challenged Mrs. Elphinstone to a duel in London's Hyde Park over remarks the latter made about the former's true age; they duelled with pistols, then with swords, until Mrs. E agreed to write Lady A an apology.
9wMGp TIL in 1966 Woody Allen boxed a kangaroo on British TV
Z8r7B TIL that Canadian sports network rivals TSN and SportsNet were once based at the same office complex, with only a parking lot separating the two. Workers would refer to leaving one channel for the other as “crossing the lot”
6Wgw TIL: the word “thug” is derived from the Cult of Thuggee in India, who were hired assassins who killed 2,000,000 people and were only stopped when the British arrived with modern crime detection methods in the 1830’s