› added 4 years ago

94

TIL the seeds of the Abrus precatorius plant contain the toxin abrin. Abrin is fatal at just 1/75 the dose of ricin. Abrin has an LD50 of 0.56 μg/kg in mice, and Kingsbury lists a toxic dose in humans at 0.00015% body weight, or approximately 0.1 mg for a 150 lb human. One chewed seed can be fatal.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

gjK4 TIL that in 2004 authorities discovered a fully functioning movie theater in the Parisian catacombs, equipped with a fully functioning restaurant, stocked bar, and projecting equipment.
Wk5k8 TIL about the italian revolutionary Nicola Bombacci. He has been the first italian to meet the Russian Bolsheviks, one of the founders of the Italian Communist Party in 1921, and one of the best friends and mentors of Benito Mussolini, with whom he was hanged at the end of WWII.
OGa97 TIL that when steam locomotives needed to refill their water tanks on long journeys, they would sometimes make use of water troughs built directly on the tracks. The engineers would lower a scoop into the trough as the train drove over it, refilling the tanks without needing to stop.
EgeN0 TIL that Sikh temples can provide a free meal, a safe place, or a temporary shelter if your ever need it. Anyone can visit the temple irrespective of their native language, sexual orientation or religious beliefs abs they will never try to convert you.
6EVB8 TIL that In Elizabethan England, the word 'Nothing' was slang for female genitalia. The title of the Shakespeare play 'Much Ado About Nothing' is a double entendre.