› added 5 years ago

65

TIL of the plant Silphium, which was believed to conveniently double up as an aphrodisiac and contraceptive, but is now regrettably extinct

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J5KQ TIL In 1964, Gary Flandromwas tasked with studying techniques for exploring the outer planets. He discovered that a rare alignment of the outer planets would occur in the late 70’s and came up with the Planetary Grand Tour which allowed for the Voyager program to happen.
5YMN8 TIL in 1968, a student at UPenn announced that a dog would be burned alive with napalm. Thousands turned up to protest, were handed a leaflet reading: Congratulations on your anti-napalm protest. You saved the life of a dog. Now, how about saving the lives of tens of thousands of people in Vietnam.
XE8PX TIL that, owing to a surge in production at the end of the 19th century, oysters became cheaper than meat, poultry, and fish, making them a popular dish on working class tables in the United States and Europe. This period of mass production is known as the Golden Age of Oysters.
N7OQ1 TIL that rare percentage of females develop undescended testes with an absent uterus leading to a high level of testosterone in the system.
4eBg TIL When President Andrew Jackson was in school, he organized a dance in which he invited 2 of the town prostitutes in order to make all the proper attendees feel uncomfortable.