› added 5 years ago

86

TIL "Of the 4 percent of the 250 000 to 300 000 known edible plant species, only 150 to 200 are used by humans. Only three - rice, maize and wheat - contribute nearly 60 percent of calories and proteins obtained by humans from plants."

Read more fao.org

via reddit.com

9m6p TIL that the US Air Force is the only branch of US military to ever directly fight the USSR. The conflict occurred over the Serbian town of Niš during WWII. Both sides mistook each other as Germans and both sides classified all reports of the battle as Top Secret.
0wjVM TIL in 2019 the US government ran "Crimson Contagion", an exercise simulating the outbreak of a respiratory virus, resulting in 110 million cases, 7.7 million hospitalizations, and 586,000 deaths
e0AOJ TIL that when Koko the gorilla met William Shatner, she grabbed him by the balls.
loRD7 TIL Cats have genetic similarities to humans and are an excellent model to study human infectious diseases.
nbxG TIL A woman was nearly killed after teens threw a 20 lbs frozen turkey through windshield of her moving car. When she woke from a coma with brain damage and a surgically reconstructed face, she pressed for leniency in the case, transforming the delinquent teen’s life. They still keep in touch today.