› added 11 years ago

451

TIL the whiptail lizard is an all female species, the males have gone completely extinct. They’re not hermaphroditic, the females actually lay, and hatch from unfertilized eggs

Read more scientificamerican.com

via reddit.com

PY5EG TIL that the Byzantine emperor Basil II captured over 15,000 Bulgars. He ordered 99% of the prisoners to have both of their eyes gouged out, and left the 1% with one eye left to guide the others back to their king. This is how Basil earned the title "the Bulgar Slayer"
EgKYX TIL that Alfred Gilman and Louis Goodman wrote 'Goodman & Gilman', the standard pharmacology textbook. AG's son Alfred Goodman Gilman, named for Gilman and his friend LG, was nicknamed "the only person to be named after a textbook". AGG later became editor of 'Goodman & Gilman' and won a Nobel.
0wBnv TIL that Panko is cooked by use of electrical current - the dough is electrified between two plates which produces an airier, crisper texture without a crust like conventionally-baked loaves.
7rlpx TIL that Christmas as we know it (family gatherings, seasonal food & drink, games, festive generosity, even saying Merry Christmas), is largely the result of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Before 1843 Christmas was associated w/ countryside peasant revelry & disconnected from modern city life.
VBmnm TIL that the 2011 film “The Worst Movie Ever!”, unintentionally, had the worst box office opening ever recorded. One single person paid admission to see the film during its premiere, earning it a whopping $11.