› added 5 years ago

78

TIL that a blue whale's tongue is as heavy as the average elephant.

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oRJ4o TIL the discoverer of the coelacanth, naturalist Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, had to fight with the taxi driver, the museum curator, the morgue director (it was summer), and the cold storage supervisor. Then the taxidermist botched the job, and the photo film fell into the mud and got destroyed.
nWmEB TIL Elvis Presley was a twinless twin. His would-be twin brother was stillborn 35 minutes before Elvis was born.
Wkn89 TIL in 1816 a volcanic event led to what is known as the Year Without a Summer, originating an agricultural disaster. The lack of horse food inspired Karl Drais to research new ways of horseless transportation, leading to the invention of the velocipede, a step torwards mechanized personal transport
0MpM TIL: Exactly 53 years ago today, the USA used a drugged black bear named “Yogi” to test the first fighter pilot ejection seat at supersonic speeds.
ZplnY TIL South Dakota launched a "Don't Jerk And Drive" safety campaign to raise awareness about how dangerous it can be for drivers to overcorrect with their steering wheel when they hit icy patches. It was pulled due to negative feedback for having a double entendre for masturbation.