› added 6 months ago

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TIL that Switzerland is officially called the Swiss confederation and the name Switzerland has no mention in its constitution

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via reddit.com

gr8J9 TIL in 1952, Jimmy Carter led a team of nuclear scientists in disassembling a Canadian nuclear reactor undergoing meltdown. To accomplish this, Carter, alongside other American military personnel, personally lowered himself into the reactor to disassemble it by hand.
yQy9J TIL that chemistry graduate student Barry Kidston gave himself Parkinson's disease after ingesting a compound he synthesized for a legal high. An impurity he neglected is toxic to dopamine neurons, which is responsible for the effect. He was treated, but died of a cocaine overdose 18 months later.
OogPa TIL of Elizabeth Swaney, a completely average skier who managed to compete in the Olympics by cleverly manipulating the system
p7G8 TIL that two zebras died of hunger in a zoo in Palestine and were replaced with donkeys painted with black and white stripes.
YB07 TIL Broken Lizard is in the process of making Super Troopers 2, and is only being held up by a legal situation with FOX.