› added 7 years ago

105

TIL that the fungus that turns ants into zombies and eventually sprouts out of them, doesn't control their brain. It's actually builds fabric around their muscles and controls them, leaving the brain healthy and in tact, up until to the moment of death

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via reddit.com

VMBaG TIL that during the 1920s a class president candidate at Harvard swallowed a live goldfish in a bid to win more votes. The stunt created a trend of 'goldfish swallowing' which became so popular that eventually Massachusetts state legislature had to create a bill banning it
eZ4L TIL in ancient Athens they had a process called ostracism, where once a year the people would vote on the politician they thought was becoming too powerful and was in a position to establish a tyranny. The “winner” was then exiled from Athens for 10 years.
ne5bb TIL that the president of Taiwan is an unmarried, childless woman whose cats featured prominently in her campaign. She is one of the 1st women elected to lead an Asian state without coming from a political dynasty, and to govern a Chinese-speaking nation since Empress Wu Zetian in the 8th century.
BY4W TIL college professors implement digital codes in their books to fight piracy. Requiring students to complete weekly assignments on online programs that are accessible only with the codes provided in the required text upon purchase. So students have to pay over of $100 just to submit homework.
vPPPR TIL that Charrúa people were the indigenous people of Uruguay and the surrounding areas. In 1831 the first president of Uruguay, Fructuoso Rivera, organized a campaign to eradicate the Charrúas. They are now considered ethnically extinct.