› added 7 years ago

101

TIL Ottawa, Canada has a panhandlers union

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M7Xom TIL about the Bajau people, a sea fairing Austronesian group who have evolved bigger spleens, letting them store more haemoglobin-rich blood, which is expelled into the bloodstream when the spleen contracts at depth. They also intentionally rupture their eardrums.
dDKbK TIL that the Curiosity rover, currently on Mars, is 10 feet long and 7 feet tall, "about the size of a small SUV."
e0pZJ TIL Hyenas, although similar in appearance and behavior to canines, are actually more closely related to cats
yQNpX TIL that after inviting John Ratcliffe (villain figure in Pocahontas) for a friendly gathering, the Powhatan Indians instead tied him to a stake, removed pieces of skin from his entire body with mussel shells and tossed them into the fire as he watched.
R7j4j TIL of this Turkish language which is not spoken but whistled, this language is used by villagers living in the mountains and the high pitch of the whistle allows them to communicate across long distances