› added 3 years ago

283

TIL that hippos whirl their tails around while defecating in an effort to expel leeches that have crawled into their anus

Read more mcgill.ca

via reddit.com

Ma60 TIL Italian Emma Morano, who is 117 years old, is the last living person born in the 1800s (Nov. 29, 1899)
d8kEZ TIL that half of President John Tyler’s cabinet along with several congressmen were killed instantly when a cannon malfunctioned and exploded during a Potomac River dinner cruise. President Tyler personally assisted with the rescue efforts and married a girl he carried away on his back
6EWOZ TIL red tape was actually used to bind government documents and you had to literally cut through them to get stuff done. And you can buy pieces of US red tape from the National Archives.
oeVK TIL a WW1 homing pigeon saved 194 men by continuing her flight after losing a leg, an eye and having been shot through the chest
R5low TIL that the street address of Ms Kitty Dalton was published by a newspaper in a story about how she had turned down over 200 marriage proposals, writing "the belt of Miss Kitty Dalton hang the scalps of more than two hundred U.S. soldiers, sailors and marines"