› added 6 days ago

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TIL that the earth goddess in Slavic was known as “Mother (Moist) Earth” and followers would prevent plague by digging a furrow around a village and shrieking.

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8aZPa TIL that Cocaine, Nicotine and Caffeine all belong to a group of chemicals known as alkaloids that also includes quinine(a malaria drug), HHT(a leukemia drug) and Atropine(the toxic component in deadly nightshade). These chemicals tend to be basic but can also be neutral or even weakly acidic.
Yg0W TIL an autistic seven year old’s first word was “Fonzi” when Henry Winkler tried to sit in a theater seat in front of her. The girl’s mother fainted from the shock.
J17K4 TIL the Roman Republic practiced human sacrifice to win the Second Punic War, by burying people alive.
gMey4 TIL Already famous, Agatha Christie went on archaeological expeditions to Iraq and Syria. That experiences is reflected in novels such as Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, and Appointment with Death
vRKB TIL in 1946 US researchers used prostitutes to infect prison inmates and insane asylum patients to test the effectiveness of Penicillin.