› added 1 week ago

TIL that 17th‑century Persia built huge “pigeon towers” in order to generate a huge amount of fertiliser. Around the city of Isfahan, landlords constructed thousands of cylindrical mud‑brick towers whose only purpose was to attract wild pigeons. These cylindrical structures were purely for pigeons

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kJdbE TIL: The slow worm is neither a worm nor a snake despite having no limbs.
GY6n4 TIL in 2003, Beyoncé came under fire from the Grant Monument Association for dancing in a "patently inappropriate" way on the steps of the tomb of President Ulysses S. Grant. President Grant's great-grandson defended her saying, "If the old guy were alive, he might have enjoyed it."
7GDO TIL Sperm were first observed in 1677, and were described as “Animalcules”, each containing a miniature yet fully formed human. This came into question when it was pointed out that meant each sperm itself carried sperm.
GjG7 TIL nodding your head to mean “yes” and shaking your head to mean “no” is common among people of every country in the entire world, except Bulgaria and southern Albania, where they mean the opposite.
e0Ppb TIL during a visit to Japan in 1932, Charlie Chaplin was nearly assassinated in an ultranationalist coup d'état. While the Prime Minister was assassinated in his residence, Chaplin likely survived because he was watching a sumo wrestling match with the Prime Minister's son.