› added 4 years ago

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TIL that during the 1956 Olympic torch relay, veterinary student Barry Larkin tricked onlookers by carrying a fake torch made of a chair leg, a pudding can, and flaming underpants. He managed to hand it over to the mayor of Sydney who gave a speech without realizing it was a hoax.

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QelL TIL pigeons are not native to North America and that they live in urban areas because “city buildings and window ledges mimic the rocky cliffs originally inhabited by their ancient ancestors in Europe.”
l7K6K TIL that Male Dromedary camels have an organ in their throat called "dulla" they spit out to attract females
lJMK TIL in 1995 drug giant GlaxoSmithKline gathered over one hundred black and hispanic orphans, including toddlers and babies, to test the “toxicity” of their AIDS medication on them. They continued to do this for nearly ten years.
eLLb TIL the song “Red Red Wine” was written by Neil Diamond in ‘67. The band UB40 covered it in '83 in a light reggae style and it reached #1 on the Billboard 100. Diamond has stated that it is one of his favorite covers and he often performs the song in the UB40 style instead of the original version.
wLgQM TIL of Margaret Howe Lovett’s sexual relations with a Dolphin during a NASA funded communications study. Lovett manually relieved Peter of urges to keep him focused. LSD was also used to aid the dolphins in speaking. Peter learned 2 words but killed himself when the study ended. ‬