› added 2 years ago

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TIL opossums always give birth to an odd number of babies, because they have an odd number of nipples. All other mammals have typically have an even number of both.

6EKgY TIL the original city called Philadelphia was located in present-day Turkey and established in 189 BC by King Eumenes II of Pergamon. He named it after his brother Attalus II, whose loyalty earned him the nickname "Philadelphos," literally "one who loves his brother."
D1Vgj TIL about the Proto-Indo-European motif of 'Chaoskampf', depicting a battle between a cultural deity and a 'chaos monster', often in the shape of a serpent/dragon. Nearly all Indo-European mythologies contain a version of it, and the protagonist is usually associated with thunder in some aspect.
NXL0M TIL that Petra is a female black swan who made headlines between 2006 and 2008 for falling in love with a pedalo shaped like a swan on the Aasee, a lake in Münster, Germany. Reported missing in January 2009, she was finally found on another lake, this time with a partner of her own species.
E1AW0 TIL after finishing the 2012 Olympics as the most successful swimmer of the meet for the third Olympics in a row, Michael Phelps contemplated suicide
Z8G64 TIL of Helenite, a green obsidian-like gemstone created accidentally after the Mount St. Helens explosion. Local timber workers were using acetylene torches to free equipment when they noticed that the heat was transforming the volcanic ash and rock into an alluring green compound.