› added 12 years ago

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TIL Yao Ming is an ambassador for elephant conservation

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gMQBb TIL that Elton John has a species of shrimp named after him
GBEG TIL that the actor who played 11 year-old Voldemort (a.k.a. Tom Riddle) in “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” is the nephew of Ralph Fiennes, the actor who played the grown-up Voldemort in the final 5 films.
PYyjn TIL the Superb Lyrebird has the ability to mimic any natural and artificial sounds from their environment with astounding accuracy. In this video one imitates the sounds of a Kookaburra, camera shutter, camera with a motor drive, car alarm and chainsaw.
gMLZD TIL Radioactive steel accidentally contaminated with Cobolt-60 was used to build hundreds of apartments in Taiwan in 1980, that were occupied for 20 years, and some studies show beneficial outcomes from the exposure.
WG98 TIL that suicide candidates in 18th-century Denmark were afraid to take their own lives because they believed it would send them to hell. Instead, they resorted to killing other people to receive the death penalty and repented before execution, believing that doing so would send them to heaven.