› added 5 years ago

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TIL the ponds that are common in residential neighborhoods are not installed as water features, they’re actually retention basins used to offset the drainage capacity of the ground removed by paving roads and building houses

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Y7EJA TIL that your eyes reveal if you’re a predator or prey. Horizontal pupils are for prey (goats!), vertical pupils are for small predators (cats!), and round pupils are for tall predators (us!).
X0pPE TIL there’s a mountain in Wales called Cnicht—a Welsh transliteration of the English word “knight”—which has retained the original pronunciation of the English word, featuring no silent letters.
GYA8J TIL that during the Victorian Era, “female hysteria” was a catchall term for many feelings of malaise, including when a woman was horny. Doctors “treated” the ailment by masturbating the women until they reached “hysterical paroxysm”, or as we call it today, an orgasm. [NSFW]
a8LOb TIL The Spanish were the first European settlers in the Florida Keys, and upon unearthing a burial mound on one of the southernmost keys, they named it Caya Hueso, Bone Island, a name later Anglicized into Key West. Spain officially relinquished control of Florida to the United States in 1821.
loYwV TIL a janitor at a Frito-Lay plant created a small homemade batch of Flamin' Hot Cheetos, gave a sales pitch to the CEO, and he loved it so much he was instantly promoted. Flamin' Hot Cheetos are now one of their best selling products.