› added 8 months ago

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TIL that Tanooki Mario is based on a real animal – the "tanuki" is a Japanese "racoon dog"

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

5Vwg9 TIL in 2010, officials in Tokyo went to congratulate the oldest man in the city, Sogen Kato, on his 111th birthday, but instead found his skeletal remains on his bed. He’d been dead for 30 years but his family had kept it secret to continue collecting his pension money.
N7PYJ TIL there is an exclusive club in Antarctica called Club 300. In order to become a member one have to warm themselves in a 200 degree sauna, and then run outside naked and touch the Ceremonial South Pole where it's 100 degrees below.
GA7E4 TIL feeling suffocated is caused by excess CO2, not lack of oxygen. Thus carbon monoxide (CO) is a silent killer: it blocks oxygen delivery and you can pass out and die quickly without feeling anything. It can also cause chain fatalities as people see a body, rush to help, and pass out themselves.
WkbB8 TIL the Metric system was invented in 1799
MePm0 TIL Women with Neandertal gene give birth to more children! One in three women in Europe inherited the receptor for progesterone from Neandertals – a gene variant associated with increased fertility, fewer bleedings during early pregnancy and fewer miscarriages.