› added 5 years ago

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TIL of Dylan McWilliams, a 20 year old man who was bitten by a shark, attacked by a bear, and bitten by a rattlesnake - the odds of which are 893 quadrillion to one.

Read more news.nationalgeographic.com

via reddit.com

d88RK TIL that Joakim Brodén, co-founder of the Swedish power metal band Sabaton, once made a drunken bet with his bandmates to travel to his next gig at Trondheim, Norway on foot. Starting off at Falun, Sweden, this was a 350 mile journey and Joakim even had fans help him along the way.
OGOy4 TIL Jesuit missionary in China Ferdinand Verbiest won an astronomy contest against the imperial court's top astronomer. His Chinese opponent was exiled and Verbiest assumed the post. He renovated Beijing Observatory and designed what some claim to be the first ever car, among other inventions
rR6My TIL that the cannibalized remains of a 14-year-old girl were discovered in a 17th century trash deposit inside fort James. This proves that early colonists resorted to cannibalism to survive during 1609-1610. This was after eating their horses and pets. Only 60 colonists survived.
kJ8Kd TIL that Turkey has one of world’s most through national building codes against earthquakes. But they just did not enforce them.
Z8oXD TIL: Mysterious metal mini-awnings set knee-high on some London exteriors are urine deflectors. “A man may sometimes walk a mile before he can meet with a suitable" outdoor pee site, fussed an 1809 London writer who condemned the inventions that "conduct the stream into the shoes of the luckless."