› added 12 years ago

115

TIL The Blanket Octopus rips off the Portuguese Man O’ War’s tentacles and uses them for defensive purposes

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9QgB TIL that the division symbol is called an “obelus,” and was used in ancient manuscripts to mark passages that were suspected of being corrupted or spurious.
R5j1j TIL that in 2012, a group of Saudi ghost hunters conducted a mas surprise raid on haunted sites in Saudi Arabia to look for djinn (Muslim mythological creatures similar to ghosts). The raids were initially successful, but were later foiled by Saudi police and 200 people were arrested.
w8mM TIL The author of graphic novel Maus, which portrays mice as Jews and cats as Nazis, felt his ideas were being stolen and used in An American Tale so he released the book early, before the film to gain the upper hand.
P8oO TIL Dick Cheney joked that his wife thinks comparisons between himself and Darth Vader ‘humanize’ him.
dD40Z TIL Dr Stewart Adams OBE, who led the team at Boots the Chemists which discovered Ibuprofen, tested the drug on his own hangover.