› added 5 years ago

268

TIL there are trees in Florida that are so deadly that even standing under it in the rain is enough to cause blistering if the skin is wetted by raindrops containing any sap. Additionally, if one of these deadly trees is burned, the resulting smoke can cause blindness if it reaches a person’s eyes.

Merpm TIL August von Mackensen was a World War I Field Marshal who lived from 1849 to late 1945, which means he lived through the Kingdom of Prussia, North German Confederation, German Empire, Weimar Republic, Third Reich and the Allied Occupation of Germany.
GAJLj TIL a 2017 lawsuit resulted in the Village People's official line-up completely changing. Their original lead singer got rights to their name, and the two original members still in the group at that point were effectively replaced. One retired and the other went solo.
DQDMD TIL the most expensive movie poster ever sold at auction was from the 1927 lost film London After Midnight. The winning bid ($478k) was by Metallica’s guitarist Kirk Hammett. The poster is displayed in his collection at Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum for all to appreciate
ZoRv TIL the Freemasons of the UK and Ireland donate Teddy bears to pediatric A&E departments to be given to distressed children. To date they have donated one million bears in the UK and over 85,000 in Ireland.
dwO8 TIL Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine could not be patented - on TV Salk claimed that he made the decision on moral grounds, but did not mention that his lawyers looked into patenting his polio vaccine, but determined it “could not be patented because of prior art”