› added 5 years ago

72

TIL that "paradise" is a word derived from a proto-Iranian word that meant "walled enclosure"

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wkpP TIL that the Captain of the HMS Beagle nearly rejected Charles Darwin as a passenger on the basis that the shape of Darwin’s nose indicated a lack of determination
e0PWJ TIL that Saudi Arabia accidentally printed textbooks showing Yoda sitting next to the king.
LkDBQ TIL "drooping ears" is a trait for domesticated animals that doesn't occur in the wild (except elephants). Almost all species gain the trait when domesticated. One experiment successfully domesticated foxes over 40 generations, and by then their ears were drooping.
x6jNB TIL there are five mass extinctions that each destroying 75-95% of all species. Currently we are on the sixth, because of human activities.
W7rOo TIL that lobsters taste with their legs and chew with their stomachs.