› added 7 years ago

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TIL of the "Tree of Life" in Bahrain: an isolated 400-year-old mesquite tree in the middle of the desert sustaining itself from an unknown water source

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via reddit.com

m1NLM TIL that after Leon Czolgosz was executed for assassinating US Pres. William McKinley, the prison warden poured sulfuric acid on the corpse, burned his belongings, and refused to turn over the body to Leon's brother. This was to prevent exhibitions of his life
KpDR TIL Biggie, Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, and DMX went to the same high school and rap battled each other during lunch
nWDW9 TIL according to Guinness World Records, the largest church in the world is in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast: The Basilica of Our Lady of Peace
neDOd TIL that Albert Baez, the father folk singer Joan Baez, while enrolled at Stanford's doctoral program in physics co-invented (with his doctoral program advisor) the X-ray reflection microscope for examination of living cells. Later in his career he helped develop the x-ray telescope.
D6Gv TIL that antelopes will run from a cheetah that is 800 meters away, but will wait until a lion is only 200 meters away, because lions are stealth hunters and a visible lion is unlikely to attack.