› added 2 months ago

22

TIL It's been 40 years since a person has been born in Antarctica.

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E16Nw TIL the United States anticipated so many casualties in the planned invasion of Japan during WW2, that it is still awarding Purple Hearts originally manufactured during the war and intended for troops of that invasion.
9YorM TIL that hospitals can and do prescribe alcohol to patients in order to prevent delirium tremens and alcoholic withdrawal
J1baj TIL that zebras are more closely related to lions than they are to gazelles
Yp417 TIL the original word for a Bear was 'Arkto' but our proto-Germanic ancestors started referring to them as 'bear' which meant 'brown one.' This practice came from a superstitious fear that speaking the predators name would summon him. This is one of the earliest examples of a euphemism.
rxK1 TIL: US Customs and Border Protection wants you to know that “bolts” and “screws” are not quite the same thing. It takes this distinction VERY seriously, and has released a 21 page technical document about how to tell the difference between the two.