› added 8 years ago

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TIL that trees in the red forest, a forest in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, are not decaying because organisms that recycle organic matter suffer from radiation as well.

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GkVg TIL that in the American Civil War Generals were 50% more likely to die in battle than Privates
b9koN TIL that to avoid the censure of his father, a railroad worker who disapproved of poets, the teenage writer Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto wrote and published poetry under a pseudonym: Pablo Neruda. He would later legally adopt the name and go on to win a Nobel Prize in Literature.
QN47X TIL it is a crime to own more than six dildos in Texas.
R5Zm9 TIL that a small percentage (1-2%) of honeybees in a given colony will specialize as undertakers; they function to prevent disease by removing corpses from the hive
kOERW TIL that actress Margaret Hamilton, best known for terrifying multiple generations as the Wicked Witch of the West, was a former kindergarten teacher who used her fame to benefit children, animals, and public education for the rest of her life. She was described as very kind and great with kids.