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TIL Bahrain’s government banned Google Earth because it allowed Bahraini citizens to see vast tracts of royal-owned land and palaces next to poor and overcrowded Shi'ite villages

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XLBD TIL Ugandan dictator Idi Amin full (sell-bestowed) title was “His Excellency, President for Life, Field Marshal Al Hadji Doctor Idi Amin Dada, VC, DSO, MC, Lord of All the Beasts of the Earth and Fishes of the Seas and Conqueror of the British Empire in Africa in General and Uganda in Particular”
R1n8 TIL that all the ants in the world weigh about as much as all the humans in the world.
vP64R TIL of Smoky, the tiny four-pound Terrier dog who served and assisted the US in WW2 after being found abandoned in a foxhole in New Guinea , and who later became histories first therapy dog.
MemRK TIL that Adolf Hitler did not invent concentration camps. They have likely been in use for centuries, as a method to supress/eliminate unwanted elements of society. Documented examples prior to the 1800s are however not easily found.
ADNWa The human brain looks like a big, pinkish-gray, wrinkly walnut. There are so many folds in it that, if it could be unfolded, it could be a small tablecloth. Pinkish-gray might not match your decor, but it would be about the right size! This "tablecloth" is made up of the cerebral cortex and is the wrinkly outside layer of your brain. All those folds are responsible for abstract thought, language, and memory. Scientists believe the wrinkles exist as a way to increase the surface area of the cortex, allowing for increased brainpower in a smaller space. In this week’s Today I Learned, neuroscientist and National Geographic Emerging Explorer Steve Ramirez shares some of his smarts on how your cortex is different from your pet hamster’s.