› added 1 month ago

7

TIL that coal stored at room temperature (but in large cuantities) can start a spontaneous combustion

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p81M8 TIL flying kicks were invented to knock samurai off of horseback.
kJnPE TIL hairworms, parasites which infect crickets and control their brain, can extend a male cricket's lifespan by removing his ability to chirp so it's harder for predators and competing crickets to find him. Hairworms may even share their immune system with its host.
9rgG TIL that 8 people were killed in what became known as the London Beer Flood after 1,470,000 L of beer burst out of brewery and gushed into the streets; 200 years ago today on October 17 1814
X0JA6 TIL in 2012 an Oregon woman found a letter from a Chinese labor camp prisoner in a box of Halloween decorations she bought from Kmart. She publicized the letter. The man, who had been released in 2010, saw a news story about it and wrote another letter just for her, thanking her for doing that.
GJZN TIL that 14 of the poorest African countries are forced by France, through a colonial pact, to put 85% of their foreign reserve into France central bank.They are effectively putting in 500 Billion dollars every year to the French treasury.