› added 6 years ago

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TIL that scientists and historians believe that the same sailors whose story inspired Melville’s Moby Dick also may have caused the extinction of the Floreana Tortoise and the Floreana Mockingbird, species that inhabited Charles Island in the Galapagos.

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via reddit.com

VXBB TIL the use of the letter “Z” to indicate snoring or sleep was first documented in an August 2, 1903 comic strip called Katzenjammer Kids
b9vK0 TIL that an anonymous Brit drew penises around potholes in Manchester to force authorities to stop delaying fixing them. It worked
MeonA TIL that the Euthanasia Coaster is a hypothetical steel roller coaster designed to kill its passengers "with elegance and euphoria"
Rjw9 TIL that all attempts to create a national identity card (a federal agency-issued mandatory form of identification) have been strongly opposed by both conservative and liberal politicians, who regard it as the mark of a totalitarian society.
QMyM TIL there is a parasite that can only reproduce inside the stomach of cats. When it’s excreted in feces and eaten by a rat, the parasite rewires the rat’s brain to be attracted to cats. This same effect can occur in humans and is thought to be a reason behind the stereotypical crazy cat person.