› added 5 years ago

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TIL the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was built as a memorial to WW1 veterans in 1923 and will be the first stadium to host 3 different Olympics games.

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16raO TIL about the Jumping Frenchmen of Maine, who exhibited a rare disorder which entails an exaggerated startle reflex described as an uncontrollable "jump". Studies recorded individuals who would obey any command given suddenly, even if it meant striking a loved one.
9w1Gr TIL that during a stay in Winterville, Georgia, Butthole Surfers made a hobby out of stalking the members of fellow rock band R.E.M., purportedly planning to park a van with the phrase “Michael Stipe/Despite the Hype/I Still Wanna Suck/Your Big Long Pipe” painted on the side parked outside his house
nW0GW TIL the Vipeholm experiments were studies where intellectually disabled patients in Lund, Sweden, were given large amounts of sweets, including toffee that clung to teeth, to study cavities. Funded by dentists and the sugar industry, they proved sugar causes decay but are now seen as unethical.
mxY8o A new study published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment suggests that leopards in Mumbai, the world’s sixth most-populated city, may save human lives by feeding on feral dogs. Feral dogs are a major health issue in India, where they are the leading cause of rabies deaths.
8aXOK TIL that Constantine V of the Byzantine Empire (r. 741-775) was so loved for his ability as a general that following the defeat of the Byzantine army by the Bulgarians at the battle of Pliska in 811, a group of soldiers broke into his tomb and begged his corpse to come back and lead them again.