› added 12 years ago

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TIL roughly 14% of humans do not have a Palmaris longus muscle in their arm. Presence can be checked by touching pinkie to thumb and flexing the wrist.

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5a9R TIL the reason behind spiral stairs being clockwise: In medieval times, they were designed this way in castles, so that attackers running up the stairs had their sword-arm near the center column, while the defenders had more room to swing their sword.
W84X TIL that the phrase “close, but no cigar” originated from carnivals/fairs using cigars as prizes in the early 20th century. After playing a game but not winning they would say close, but no cigar. Sense these carnivals traveled all over the place, it became a well known saying.
wojZ1 TIL the word Covid-19 appeared in the dictionary a record 34 days after coinage. Before that, the fastest was AIDS, which took two years.
4wag TIL 30 men were drafted to burn the bodies of those that died from ebola in Liberia, where cremation is a huge cultural taboo. Despite playing a large role in stopping the outbreak the 30 “ebola burners” are still shunned in their communities and even by their families.
OoowR 26-year-old Kate McWilliams has become one of the world's youngest commercial airline captains, flying with Easyjet. Her co-pilot is Luke Elsworth, 19.