› added 1 year ago

118

TIL there is a fish doorbell at a lock in Utrecht, where viewers of the livestream notify the lock-keeper to open the lock for fish to pass through.

x6Myo TIL about Skatole, a compound found in mammal poop, has a disgusting smell at high concentrations—but at low levels, it actually smells floral and sweet. It’s naturally found in flowers like jasmine and orange blossoms, and is used in perfumes and some flavorings.
W7GVL TIL in a private letter from 1521, Niccolo Machiavelli describes reading his mail in the toilet seat. Stuck on a boring work trip, he proceeds to ask his pen pal to send him fat folders stuffed with papers and make the mailman run, to prank the nosey monks who tried to pry at his letters
yAKV TIL that Mark Zuckerberg made so much money in 2013 that his pay raised the average compensation for a tech worker in San Mateo county by $80,000, from $210,000 to $290,000.
VMQbD TIL the original "laugh track" used in sitcoms was a physical instrument like an organ, was held under lock and key, and was owned and operated by only one man who knew how it worked. Charley Douglass used his "laff box" to create the laugh track for almost every sitcom in the 50s, 60s, and 70s.
16Mwd TIL Cashews actually begin as fruit from a large tropical evergreen tree. The tree produces vibrant red flowers that give way to juicy, apple-like structures—but these aren’t the real fruit. The true cashew “fruit” is the kidney-shaped formation at the end of these so-called apple.