› added 6 years ago

137

TIL Water firms in the UK are still using Divining Rods to search for leaks and pipes.

Read more theguardian.com

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6ERG8 TIL In the 19th Century, Hermann von Helmholtz, a German physician and physicist, estimated that the speed of a single thought can travel along our nerves up to 120 m/s, or ~270 mph.
jaap TIL that the first successful anal fistula surgery was performed on Louis XIV in 1686. Anal fistulas then became highly fashionable among his royal court, with people lining up to undergo the procedure whether they needed it or not, or placing bandages on their bums to pretend that they did.
yVlx8 TIL the net worth of Saudi Arabia's royal family, estimated at $1.4 trillion, is approximately 16 times greater than that of the British royal family, which has a net worth of $88 billion.
9Oxp TIL that Scarlett Johansson was asked by Oxfam (for whom she was a global ambassador) to stop supporting SodaStream in Israel (which had built illegal settlements in Palestine). She chose to leave Oxfam and do a SuperBowl advert for SodaStream instead.
KYYya TIL that fortune-telling is illegal in New York.