› added 6 years ago

189

TIL of the most rural post office in the US; the Supai Post Office is at the bottom of the Grand Canyon and is serviced by a mule train that takes 2.5 hours to reach it. It services the Havasupai reservation and demonstrates the obligation of the US Postal System to service every community.

Read more 99percentinvisible.org

via reddit.com

mVmv TIL in WWII, the BBC asked for holiday pictures and snaps of France ostensibly for an “exhibition” when actually, they were going to be used by the Allies to create detailed maps of the Normandy beaches so that they could plan for the Battle of Normandy.
nel99 TIL that pepper spray is banned from being used in war since it is considered a chemical weapon but is generally allowed as a riot control agent.
R7AYw TIL about tetrachromacy, the condition of possessing four independent channels for conveying color information, or possessing four types of cone cell in the eye.
9BRp TIL that in 1912 the Australian national rugby team played 16 games in the US and Canada. It played poorly because players stayed in college frat houses and partied too much; one member said “We were never in bed. That was the trouble. I’ve never had such a time in my life”.
7rKAp TIL of the New Mexico whiptail lizard, an all-female species that originated from hybridization. It reproduces without males through parthenogenesis and manages to escape extinction because of a constant stock of new hybrids. They even have female to female courtship to stimulate ovulation!