› added 5 years ago

188

TIL that Captain Planet took on Hitler.

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via reddit.com

QNgkE TIL that for one species of moth, the male will shoot layers of hairs drenched in plant toxins onto the female to protect her from predators while he mates with her because copulation takes such a long time. This practice is called protective nuptial festooning!
O6ka TIL The term “Third World” actually refers to a country’s allegiance during the Cold War, and has no real correlation to its level of industrialization or financial stability.
ANonl TIL 287 years is the longest a library book was overdue. While writing a biography on Colonel Robert Walpole in 1956, Prof. John Plumb returned a history book to the Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge after Walpole had checked it out around the year 1667.
KOw64 TIL that Charles Joughin, Chief Baker on Titanic, helped passengers board life boats (forcibly boarding those who thought it safer to stay on the ship), drank a 1/2 bottle of liqueur, then threw chairs overboard for use as flotation devices, rode the side of the ship down while it sunk, and survived
Y7ZJW TIL there is such a thing as an antimatter factory- and one is currently active at CERN.