› added 4 years ago

716

TIL of the Dracula parrot found only in New Guinea. Despite its name, the parrot eats no meat but rather feeds almost exclusively on figs. Just as vultures adapted a featherless head to feed cleanly on bloody carcasses, a Dracula parrot's lack of face feathers keeps its face clean of sticky figs.

QJloe TIL of Karen Silkwood, a nuclear plant worker and whistleblower. On November 13, 1974, she set out to meet a reporter to go public with evidence of extensive safety violations. She was later found dead; her car appeared to have been run off the road and the documents she had with her were missing.
xVXED TIL in 1946, a local chicken farmer offered 100 chicks for each homer the Nashua Dodgers hit. Newcomer Roy Campanella hit 14 in his first season and sent all 1,400 to his father who used them to start a thriving poultry farm. He also went on to become one of the first black major league players.
YpkEG TIL a 67-year-old neurosurgeon was "stereoblind" (unable to see depth) his entire life, but it was cured after he saw the movie "Hugo" in 3D at a movie theater. Afterwards he was permanently able to perceive depth.
6PgQ TIL Penn and Teller created a game called Desert Bus. The object is to drive in REALTIME from Tucson, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada. There is no pause button and it needs constant steering. If you make the entire 8 hour trip, you earn one point.
VBOvp TIL while people often use the words ‘sign’ and ‘symptom’ interchangeably, from a Medical perspective a Symptom is something only the sufferer can perceive, like dizziness or pain while a Sign is something objective that a another person can perceive, like a visible rash or elevated temperature.