› added 1 year ago

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TIL about the Merci Train - a collection of 49 boxcars sent by France to the United States in response to humanitarian aid provided after World War II. Each state barring Alaska got their own, and 43 still survive today.

Read more mercitrain.org

via reddit.com

YpmAW TIL: When fingers and toes get pruny from prolonged exposure to water, it's not because they absorbed water directly and became mushy. The water triggers nerves under your skin to dilate blood vessels and skin tension relaxes. People with specific nerve injuries don't have this response.
b6rYE TIL about "Refrigerator Women", a trope in fiction where a female character is killed or seriously injured as a plot device to motivate the male characters, an example of which being the death of Gwen Stacey (Emma Stone) at the end of The Amazing Spider-Man 2
R7Ng9 TIL The Inuit people of northern Greenland had many metal knives and tools despite having no mines or smelting: they used enormous iron meteorites for their metal which American explorer Robert E. Peary ultimately stole.
OoXl7 TIL The 2003 Gubernatorial election for California (which Arnold Schwarzenegger won) had 135 candidates. California has 80 districts so it was impossible for every candidate to be placed at the top of the ballet in at least one district. Also Gary Coleman and porn star Mary Carey were candidates.
v7g4 TIL a recalled obesity drug, fenfluramine, had a remarkable effect on a boy with autism. Before taking fenfluramine, Joshua’s I.Q. was so low it could not be measured. After, he was able to read and do maths at a 4th grade level.