› added 9 months ago

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TIL about Prototaxites, an exctinct genus of fungi that lived around 400 million years ago. They could rich 1m (3 ft) in width and 8m (26 ft) in length, making them by far the largest land-dwelling organism of their time.

PYbwE TIL Karl Schmidt, a herpetologist who was tasked with identifying a juvenile Boomslang snake, when the venomous snake bit him, instead of going to the hospital, Schmidt went home, believing the juveniles couldn’t produce a fatal bite. He recorded all his symptoms in his diary until death.
EvdW TIL the USSR had a televised song contest. Since few people had phones, viewers would turn their house lights ON if they liked a certain song (OFF if they didn’t). The state energy co. recorded the size of each power spike & reported the results to the station to determine points for each contestant
PYbYO TIL that the US-Canadian Border was known by the Plains Indians as "The Medicine Line" for it's seemingly magical ability to keep US troops from crossing it.
5vXr TIL that a village in Rajasthan, India plants 111 trees every time a girl is born, ensuring the trees survival over the years. The village has planted over 250,000 trees.
LQbEv TIL the "Pizza The Hutt" suit for the movie Spaceballs weighed about 25 pounds and was made with a fiberglass undershell, a foam latex skin, steam jets, hoses, pancake batter, and pizza toppings. It was so uncomfortable that the original actor who wore it refused to get back in it for reshoots