› added 3 months ago

17

TIL couscous is pasta. Not a grain or rice, it's pasta

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rRmVy TIL in 1921 a group of workers in a fertilizer factory stuck dynamite in a 4.5k lbs block of hardened ammonium nitrate to loosen it up. The resulting explosion killed 500 people, destroyed 80% of the surrounding homes and ripped the roofs off of buildings 15 miles away.
LQ6E9 TIL rhesus macaque monkeys from Asia were released in Florida's Silver Springs park 100 years ago. Today there are thriving colonies across Florida, many carrying Herpes B (which is harmless to monkeys but deadly to humans). 50 people have been infected with Herpes B and 21 have died since 1932.
7GDO TIL Sperm were first observed in 1677, and were described as “Animalcules”, each containing a miniature yet fully formed human. This came into question when it was pointed out that meant each sperm itself carried sperm.
P1VPL TIL The Cone Snail, fairly common, is among the most venomous creatures on earth
jXPX TIL the most powerful commercial radio station ever was WLW (700KHz AM), which during certain times in the 1930s broadcasted 500kW radiated power. At night, it covered half the globe. Neighbors within the vicinity of the transmitter heard the audio in their pots, pans, and mattresses.