› added 11 years ago

100

TIL that the longest anyone has ever survived in a shipwrecked raft was 133 days by a Chinese man named Poon Lim. He survived the ordeal by fishing, drinking bird blood, and killing a shark with a jug of water. He died exactly 23 years ago at the age of 72.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

5y7p TIL that during prohibition, the US government ordered poison be added to industrial alcohol to discourage consumption. People continued to drink it, so the government mandated more potent poison and it killed as many as 10,000 people.
vP69x TIL: There was a study on how your major affects your marriage rate. The most likely majors to be married by age 30 are Education, Plant Science, and Microbiology majors (70-80%). The least likely majors are Geography, Theater Arts, Music, Philosophy, and International Relations majors (32-46%).
yQ71p TIL according to The Specialty Coffee Association of America, the Kopi Luwak (digested coffee cherries, which have been eaten and defecated by a Civet) which costs US$700 per kilogram, is sold for the story, not for quality. The coffee's good acidity and flavor is diminished by the process.
wxp7 TIL that André The Giant had an operation in 1987 in which his size made it impossible for the anesthesiologist to estimate a dosage via standard methods; consequently, his alcohol tolerance (“it usually takes two liters of vodka just to make me feel warm inside”) was used as a guideline instead.
GAQjQ TIL Ulysses S. Grant met with Susan B. Anthony while President in 1872 to discuss the possibility of women's suffrage. Although he was unable to get them the vote, Grant did succeed in expanding women's rights including in the workforce, appointing thousands of female Postmasters across the country.