› added 1 year ago

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TIL the Manchineel Tree, is one of the most toxic trees in the world. Contact with its sap can cause blisters, and damage paint on cars. Ingestion of the fruit can cause severe gastroenteritis with bleeding, shock, bacterial superinfection, and compromise airways due to edema.

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oKd8 TIL Chris Paul, one day after his 61 year-old grandfather was murdered, scored 61 points in a high school basketball game, intentionally missed a free throw, and asked his coach to pull him out. He then sat on the sideline and wept.
E1a4w TIL in WW2 they used special smoke screens that were that were half a mile long and hundreds of feet tall to hide ships and blimps from enemies.
R7yG1 TIL that the first succesful production to ever mix sound, color and motion on screen was an eight hour religious film called The Photo-Drama of Creation made by Jehovah's whitnesses.
7lVb TIL A man once sued Pepsi after trying to buy a Harrier fighter jet with Pepsi Points
OGopg TIL to collect taxes, Christian IV of Denmark asked captains of ships crossing the Øresund to estimate the value of their cargo, which was applied as the tax base without further audit. But the king also claimed the right to buy the entire cargo at exactly that price.