› added 12 years ago

1310

TIL That the longest filibuster in U.S. history was made by Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. He filibustered for 24 hours and 18 minutes against the Civil Rights Act of 1957. It was revealed after his death that he had fathered a half-black daughter.

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OGAB6 TIL some ants and many other social insects bury their dead. Some even have dedicated corpse-bearers and create whole tombs within their nests. The behavior is known as necrophoresis - a way to prevent pathogens and pests from affecting the rest of the colony.
R7561 TIL: De Beers has spent millions trying to detect the difference between "real" diamonds and modern lab-grown diamonds - so far to no avail - as the diamond supply floods with cheap chinese lab-grown gems.
QJonk TIL that William Atherton who plays the lawyer Walter Peck in Ghostbusters was so hated that after the movie came out he was harassed on the street and challenged to fights in bars.
0wlGy TIL that in 1910, black sailors of the Brazilian navy mutinied and gained control of all of Brazil's large battleships. They then used the threat of bombarding Rio de Janeiro to successfully force the abolition of the slavery-like conditions they suffered under in the navy.
OlD4 TIL that the diet of the Bearded Vulture is ~90% bones, allowing it to return to a carcass long after other scavengers have removed any soft tissues. Bones too large to swallow are dropped from great height to crack them into smaller pieces.