› added 13 years ago

207

TIL Pablo Pineda was the first student with Down Syndrome in Europe to obtain a university degree.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

0wGw5 TIL to deflect flight noises from the Amsterdam Airport, an 80-acre park in the shape of perfectly aligned furrows with high ridges in between (inspired by old farming techniques and Chladni patterns), was built. Finished in October 2013, the park cut the noise level in half almost immediately.
D81g TIL that prairie dogs have a complex language in which they can describe the size and shape of a human, the color of clothes the human is wearing, and even whether the human has a gun.
MeO9W TIL West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) deemed it unconstitutional to force ordinary citizens to participate in patriotic rituals. The initial case was for refusal due to religious reasons, but the ruling was generalized to allow all forms of refusal.
wKko TIL that Christian, Judaic, and Islamic texts all ban interest on loans
oRjWY TIL all mammals including humans possess the mammalian diving reflex, where the body helps conserve oxygen by slowing the heart, constricting blood vessels and reducing breathing. It is triggered by cold water hitting the face.