› added 10 years ago

67

TIL up until the 19th century, Hawaii was mosquito free

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via reddit.com

awQb9 TIL that wasps are essential in the production of wine. The yeast which is found on the surfaces of mature grapes and triggers fermentation cannot survive winter temperatures outdoors. It survives and breeds in the stomachs of hibernating wasps, who spread it among grape plants each year.
4ky5N TIL of the largest general strike in history in May 1968, when 11 million French citizens spent 2 weeks on strike to protest the heavy-handed police response to student protests earlier that year, resulting in an early election call
wowOW TIL that, while an odd pair, philosopher's Albert Camus and Jean-Paul Sartre were best friends. However, they split when Camus wrote "The Rebel" due to Sartre becoming angered by Camus's argument that absolute justice and absolute freedom couldn't coexist making violent revolution mostly pointless.
xOOk TIL of a Shabbat elevator. These elevators stop at every floor so that Jews won’t have to press buttons on the Sabbath since pressing buttons is considered ‘doing work’.
nVjb TIL 1/3 of divorce filings in 2011 contained the word “Facebook”