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TIL That rush of euphoria after a long run doesn’t come from endorphins, long believed to be the source, but from the same chemical compounds found in marijuana

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via reddit.com

mxGYo TIL in 1976, Barry Kidston, a 23-year-old chemistry graduate student in Maryland, US, synthesized MPPP with MPTP as a major impurity, and self-injected the result. Within three days he began exhibiting symptoms of Parkinson's disease
kJ6E7 TIL In Kenya, a number of cases have been reported in the 2010s of thieves selling transformer oil, stolen from transformers, to the operators of roadside food stalls for use in deep frying. When used for frying, it is reported that transformer oil lasts much longer than regular cooking oil.
xVk8D TIL a chair is used for lion taming due to how a cat's brain has evolved to only deal with a single thing at a time. The four legs of the chair confuse the lion, rendering it mostly harmless.
xVx51 TIL in the early 19th century the US Senate's desks were updated to make them more usable (i.e. a writing box and an extra drawer). Daniel Webster refused to update his desk, thinking it was a waste of money. The desk is still used as nobody wants to get rid of it since it belonged to Daniel Webster
vGdR TIL Syphilis been called the French disease in Italy, Poland, and Germany and the “Italian disease” in France. The Dutch called it the “Spanish disease”, the Russians called it the “Polish disease”, the Turks called it the “Christian disease” and the Tahitians the “British disease”.