› added 1 year ago

89

TIL a group from California that represents plum farmers and distributors promoted the use of prune puree on school lunch beef patties following declining prune sales in the mid 90s. This lead to a short lived period of schools incorporating fruit fused burgers into their students diet.

Read more atlasobscura.com

via reddit.com

R5RO1 TIL despite literally meaning "thousand feet" no species of millipede was known to have a thousand feet until a species discovered in 2020, named Eumillipes meaning "true thousand feet"
R7Jo1 TIL The Maluku Islands were the world's sole source of nutmeg, cloves, and mace. The islands were occupied by the Portuguese, Dutch, French, English, and Dutch again. During a British occupation spice tree seedlings were stolen and taken to British colonies thus depreciating the islands' value.
JY181 Did you wake up today with a craving for clay, or dirt? That’s called pica, an abnormal craving for substances other than typical food. If you went ahead and acted on your impulse, it's probably a good idea to head over to your doctor’s office. Research indicates that in most cases this craving is a result of a mineral or vitamin deficiency. This brings us to this week’s Today I Learned, as National Geographic Society grantee and ornithologist Luke Powell explains why macaws regularly munch on South American rain forest clay. Yummy! All animals (including humans) need salt to live. Animals that live in the Amazon rain forest face a curious predicament due to the way the Andes mountain range affects weather coming from the Pacific Ocean. This geography results in an extreme lack of salt in the Amazon and, consequentially, some unique behaviors and appetites.EDITOR: Laurence AlexanderSERIES PRODUCER: Chris Mattle
p8nDp TIL in 2007, a North Korean cargo vessel was captured by Somali pirates. Its distress signal was responded to by a nearby US destroyer, which provided medical assistance to injured NK sailors who were able to retake the vessel. It led to an unprecedented statement of gratitude by North Korean media.
D1XXY TIL a Subway sandwich artist was trapped in a refrigerator overnight and wrote a desperate plea for help in ketchup.