› added 10 years ago

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TIL Newton’s flaming laser sword is a philosophical razor that states anything that cannot be settled by experiment is not worthy of debating.

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JWYV TIL that a sentry assigned to guard Napoleon’s house in Austria did not recognise him and threatened to stab him with his bayonet. The next day, he was awarded the Legion of Honor by Napoleon for doing his job so well.
jNWQN TIL that before Europeans used the word "panther" for melanistic leopards and jaguars, it was a mythical animal, typically a big cat with a multicoloured hide. In heraldry it is depicted with coloured spots and flames coming from its mouth and ears, representing the sweet smelling odour of its roar.
nWmXr TIL: 80% of mass shooters showed no interest in violent video games, a researcher found.
QpW9 TIL… there is a banana plantation in Iceland, just 177 miles from the Arctic Circle
oBknR TIL felines who purr cannot roar. It comes down to a bone called the hyoid which is not completely ossified in roaring cats while it is in domestic cats.