› added 2 years ago

116

TIL of “The Pittsburg Windmill”, the boxer Harry Greb who boxed with one eye after losing sight in the other due to an injury. Despite this, Greb was the only person to defeat champion Gene Tunney and was renowned for breaking the colour line by accepting challenges from African-American opponents.

7rpNX TIL a common homeopathic cure for the flu is a 200C dilution of duck liver. A dilution of one molecule in the observable universe is 40C, therefore one would need to consume the equivalent of 10^320 observable universes of the substance to get a single molecule of duck liver.
GAlvj TIL that in addition to being a drug cheat. Lance Armstrong is also been accused of being a technical cheat. It’s alleged he used a tiny motor on his bike. This is supported by video evidence of unusual recurring movements he made in races to engage the engine on the bike just before acceleration.
8eBmK TIL a circus performer in the 18th century by the name of Thomas Wedders is in the Guinness World Records for having the longest recorded nose in history, measuring 7.5 inches (19cm).
8alaZ TIL Forced Rhubarb, grown by candlelight in otherwise pitch-black sheds, grows so quickly you can actually hear it make sound - popping, cracking and snapping (audio in comments).
WkJ08 TIL about Francisco Boix who not only survived Mauthausen concentration camp. He also managed to save thousands of negatives that would later be used as photographic evidence documenting the atrocities. He even helped convict nazis at the Nuremberg trials using his evidence.