› added 11 years ago

120

TIL that Portugal decriminalized all drugs - not just pot, 12 years ago. Drug use has dropped by over 70%, and today many view drug users in the community more favorably then cigarette smokers.

Read more spiegel.de

via reddit.com

BrMJe TIL how Samuel Clements chose his pen name. He used to be a Riverboat Pilot in Hannibal, MO. It was common to have a crew member throw a line out from the front of the boat to measure the depth shouting “Mark Twain” if it was a safe depth. A Mark is the same as a Fathom (6 feet) and Twain means 2.
oymY TIL: There is a frog from Africa, Trichobatrachus robustus, that breaks a bone in its toe pad, pushes the sharp broken bone through it’s skin, and tries to shank you with it if it feels threatened.
M7XQ8 TIL of the Window Tax, where England homes would be taxes according to the number of windows they had, leading to windows getting boarded up to avoid the excess tax.
graB4 TIL in October 2005 a woman hanged herself in a tree near a residential road and was mistaken as a Halloween decoration for over 3 hours
DlVJ TIL In 1953 US and UK overthrow first Iranian democratic government because Iran wanted to nationalize the petroleum reserves.