› added 7 years ago

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TIL that Phenylephrine, the drug commonly found in many cold and flu medications as a replacement for pseudoephedrine, is no better than a placebo in helping sinus congestion.

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WyG8 TIL that crows and ravens are ranked among the most intelligent animals on the planet. They are known to have the ability to use tools. Some crows have even invented a method of bait fishing with crumbs stolen from humans.
MjYm TIL that John McCain, while a POW in Vietnam, was pressured to give the names of his squadron members. He instead gave them the names of the Green Bay Packers offensive line.
L4ap TIL during WWII, Some British Spitfires were painted pink to conceal them when flying at dusk or dawn.
KOj7w TIL Voltaire's joke that the Holy Roman Empire (HRE) was "neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire" was mostly true. The center of the Church at the time was actually the Vatican, the HRE's people were mostly Germanic and not Roman, and the nation was never truly unified at any point in its history.
epj9n TIL that the entire astroid belt combined is roughly 3% of the mass of the Moon. 60% of the asteroid belt's mass is contained within four objects: Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, and Hygiea.