› added 1 year ago

419

TIL Mama is an (almost) universal word

Read more parent.com

via reddit.com

d15r TIL Yew trees can exceed 1000 years, are often found in graveyards, and have a long association with death; they’re deadly poisonous to humans, with no known antidote. However, the tree is used to make taxanes, which are used to fight cancer.
8eQ4 TIL that in 2010 security researchers were invited to try to tamper with an Internet voting pilot. Within 36 hours they had made the website play the Michigan fight song and changed all the votes to write-ins for various fictional robots and computers.
gONA TIL that Brian May, the guitarist of Queen, built an electric guitar from scratch with his father when he was 16 years old, and called it the Red Special. He used that same guitar for his entire career, and it is his most prized possession.
nWrKd TIL people living near a former atomic weapon plant in Washington state have increased thyroid cancer rates and nervous system tumors
DQgYp TIL the BBC once forbade employees from illuminating any workspace solely with an Anglepoise (the spring-tensioned balance-arm lamp) because Variety Dept. head Michael Standing feared low-wattage lights led creators to furtive ideas, smut innuendo, and degenerate programme material.