› added 10 years ago

88

TIL People have historically used about 7,000 plant species for their food. Today, only about 30 crops provide 95% of human food energy needs.

Read more fao.org

via reddit.com

OoB5e TIL Huntington Beach Police Department recently released more than 100 photos of possible victims of Serial Killer Rodney Alcala. He took the photos himself, and they want help identifying possible victims. See if you recognize anyone.
b6pvE TIL that ‘natural products from bacteria (and their derivatives) account for half of all commercially available pharmaceuticals’
oRy8L TIL that the 18th century Badminton Cabinet is the most expensive piece of furniture ever sold at $36.7 million (2004). It is a Florentine ebony chest, inlaid with hard and semiprecious stones commissioned in 1726 by Henry Somerset, 3rd Duke of Beaufort, at the age of 19
p8k0Q TIL that the different designations for groups of birds (Parliament of Owls, Murder of Crows...) largely came from a book from Middle Ages called The Book of Saint Albania. The designations are largely unused by scientist and birdwatchers, but are meant to describe the birds’ characters.
mZ1R TIL the CEO of food for the poor is named Robin Mahfood.