› added 5 years ago

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TIL Bizarrely, the US has a Prohibition Party whose mascot is the dromedary and whose chairman is named Phil Collins

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grnR8 TIL that "heat lightning" is just regular lightning that has been observed from far away, and thus able to be seen but not heard. It is not a different type of lightning.
p8OZ TIL Some Paralympic athletes gain an unfair advantage by purposely injuring themselves on areas of their body with no feeling. It’s called “boosting” and the goal is to trick the body into triggering a kind of fight-or-flight response, and in doing so, increase performance.
N7N1J TIL that in the 70s, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, tried creating its own artificial coral reef by dumping some 2 million used tires into the ocean. It became an environmental disaster, naturally, but also a military training exercise when divers had to retrieve the tires (almost one by one).
E7xW TIL that in 67 AD, Roman Emperor Nero was in such deep mourning over the death of his late wife Poppaea Sabina that he castrated and married a young man who bore an uncanny resemblance to her and even started calling him by his late wife’s name.
4XJMR TIL 'Catastrophizing'. A cognitive distortion that prompts people to jump to the worst possible conclusion after a minor setback. When a situation is upsetting but safe, they still feel like they are in the midst of a huge crisis. Getting enough sleep can also help keep 'catastrophizing' in check.