› added 11 years ago

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TIL that Oriental Hornets are able to harvest the sun’s light and convert it to energy with their yellow stripes in their head and abdomen.

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xVmG0 TIL that after the devastating volcanic eruption on Whakaari last year in which 21 died and 26 were injured, New Zealand ordered 1.2 million cm of human skin from the US to treat burn victims
wLXEY TIL that after writer James Baldwin died in 1987, McGraw-Hill took the unprecedented step of suing his estate to recover the $200,000 advance they had paid him for a book.
4Xk9o TIL that during apartheid, the South African Chemical & Biological weapons program differed in its aims from the programs of many countries in that a major focus of the South African program was to develop non-lethal agents to help suppress internal dissent.
168aX TIL from the 1930s to 1960s pregnancy tests worked by injecting a mouse or rabbit with the woman's urine. The animal was then dissected, and if the ovaries were enlarged it indicated the woman was pregnant.
1add8 TIL the reason most Americans have never tasted blackcurrant - it was outlawed in the early 1900s to protect white pine trees from a fungus. As of 2020, restrictions remain in MA, ME, NH, and VA.