› added 12 years ago

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TIL that modern knowledge on how the human body reacts to freezing is based almost exclusively on Nazi human experimentation.

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rRjD4 TIL that from 1748-1772, potatoes were illegal in France. French people did not trust the new food as they grew underground, and were thought to spread diseases such as leprosy.
mxEPO TIL the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard which is roughly the size of Ireland is an entirely visa-free zone, meaning anyone may live and work on Svalbard indefinitely regardless of country of citizenship
Gw9E TIL that Lee Fierro, who played Alex Kintner’s mom in Jaws, went to a restaurant in Martha’s Vineyard in 1999. After seeing an “Alex Kintner Burger”, she mentioned that she played the mother in that movie. The manager who went out to meet her was none other than Jeff Voorhees, who played Alex.
jNydQ TIL that, in 2010, over a hundred bottles of 170 year old champagne were salvaged from a shipwreck. Scientists analysed the liquid and even let themselves each sip 1ml. Apparently it still tasted great!
mxdMP TIL of Pedro Alonso Lopez...one of the most prolific serial killers in history. Lopez was arrested in 1980 & convicted of 110 murders (claimed 200 more). He was only in prison for 14 years, in an asylum for 4 more, then was RELEASED & DISAPPEARED.