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TIL that our brains have the tendency to start to shut down when presented with ideology different from our own, with less blood being delivered to the parts of our cortex responsible for rational thought, until another statement is presented that confirms our beliefs

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gM8nD TIL The Romans used to send each other little postcards made of a thin layer of flexible wood written on in ink and then folded in two. About 400 tablets (in fragments) were found near where Hadrian's wall would be built. They tell us a great deal about the nature of life on the Roman frontier.
PYXeG TIL That in 1998 a woman from Tennessee was elected Democratic State Senator as a write-in candidate after the original Democratic candidate, her husband, was assassinated by his opponent 2 weeks before the election. She won 95% of votes and 3 subsequent elections before retiring undefeated in 2013
mxrPM TIL a bumblebee will stick up a middle leg if it’s annoyed by your presence, which means “back off!”. Otherwise they are docile to the point that you could usually handle one without negative consequence.
e5v5 TIL a third-grade girl was expelled for a year because her grandmother had sent a birthday cake to school along with a knife to cut it. The teacher used the knife to cut the cake, and then reported the girl to the authorities as having a dangerous weapon.
ne6E7 TIL that a Scottish man lost 276 pounds by not eating for 382 days. He only drank tea, coffee, and sparkling water and took vitamin supplements.