› added 9 years ago

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TIL the first webcam was created to help people working in other parts of a building avoid pointless trips to an empty coffee pot.

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Z86lG TIL there is a blood sport known as Spider Fighting, where two spiders are placed on opposite ends of a stick and pushed towards the middle to fight one another. In 2002, inmates in a Florida prison got into a fight resulting in life threatening injuries over the theft of a pet fighting spider.
WGb4 TIL that cannibalism was so normal in ancient Fiji that “Eat me!” was a proper ritual greeting from a commoner to a chief.
4o6g TIL a Polish Wikipedia user got his entire city banned from editing for 3 days due to him posting pictures of penises to pages related to Catholicism and Polish politics
6ER8J TIL Urine contains nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium—key nutrients that plants need to grow. Researchers have been studying the removal of bacteria, viruses, and pharmaceuticals in urine to improve the safety of urine-derived fertilizers.
16GJd TIL in 1967 three astronauts - Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger B. Chaffee - died in a cabin fire in the first test of the Apollo command and service module. Because there was no rocket fuel, the test was not considered hazardous, and emergency preparedness for it was poor.