› added 1 year ago

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TIL that in the Joan Miró Foundation, in Barcelona, you can see a functional mercury fountain created by Alexander Calder. It has to be kept in an airtight glass casing at all times because of the toxic fumes.

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ADa6l TIL Iceland has more writers, more books published and more books read, per head, than anywhere else in the world
8elO8 TIL Doug Henning, the New Age illusionist from the 70s, was diagnosed with liver cancer. Despite graduating with honors with a degree in science and psychology, he believed that meditation and a diet of nuts and berries would save him. He was dead within 6 months, at the age of 52.
9YoDQ TIL Nebraska passed a "Safe Haven Law" to ostensibly allow infants to be abandoned at certain locations without abandonment charges. However, it had no age cap, so people would abandon teenagers and older kids.
b6XB9 TIL that 3 sailors who died in Pearl Harbor have incorrect dates written on their gravestones. They were trapped underwater in the West Virginia battleship for 16 days after the bombing; it was largely kept a secret and most of their family members died without ever knowing the truth.
NXPn8 TIL: Many cats have a common form of alopecia called preauricular alopecia or facial alopecia, which causes the thinning hair between the ears and eyes that you often see in felines