› added 12 years ago

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TIL that the “food coma” which describes the tiredness encountered after eating a meal is actually a medically proven process called alkaline tide.

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via reddit.com

Xde6 TIL that in 1915, scam artist Charles Hatfield convinced the town of San Diego that he could create rainfall using a secret mix of chemicals. The city offered to pay him $10,000 if he could end their drought, and the ‘result,’ a few days later, was the town’s worst flood of the 20th century.
9Gnp TIL that soldiers awarded the Medal of Honor receive a number of additional benefits, including a pension of $1,300 beyond any other retirement pay, space-available air travel on military transport for their entire lives, and admission to military academies for their children.
ZgLa TIL the Southern Baptist denomination was created for the sole purpose of supporting slavery in the South, they didn’t apologize for their stance on slavery until 1995.
nW8xG TIL that the gender of a sea turtle is based off the temperature of the eggs incubation. 27.7 degrees Celsius and below will be male, and 31 degrees Celsius and above will be female. In between both temperatures can create either male or female.
R5P9 TIL A Japanese diplomat in Lithuania during WWII disobeyed multiple direct orders from his government and wrote special visas enabling thousands of Lithuanian Jews to escape the Holocaust. His reward was a ruined career and decades of ignominy and deprivation. He had no regrets.