› added 2 years ago

61

TIL prior to the 20th century, saltwater crocodiles could grow to enormous sizes of about 7 meters (23ft) in length, with a weight of 2000 kg (4400 lb), thanks to the presence of particular genes in their gene pool, which no longer exist due to extensive hunting.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

R7Yn1 TIL that there's an actual term for the act of using scientific sounding facts to trick people into a false conclusion or belief. It was dubbed "Zohnerism" after a student called Nathan Zohner tricked 86% of his school's 9th graders into wanting to ban "dihydrogen monoxide" (water)
9Zbp TIL Executive Outcomes, a South African mercenary company, successfully quelled civil war in Sierra Leone. The United Nations pressured Sierra Leone’s government to replace them with peacekeepers. Civil War quickly broke out again upon EO’s dismissal.
xV9ZD TIL on 1973, due to high prices for beef, fish from a pond in Bowne Park, in Flushing, Queens, New York, ended in kitchen refrigerators in the neighborhood
6EJ4m TIL that the "short" in shortcrust pastry refers to how the fats in the dough stop the flour from forming long gluten proteins in any direction; puff pastry has glutens in layers between layers of fat, like lasagne sheets. Overwork it, and glutens are formed in all directions, making it tough!
n1GG TIL Maurice Ward invented a material called Starlite, which could withstand temperatures over 10,000 C. Ward was so protective of his formula that he took it to his grave in 2011 and scientists still do not know the composition of the material.