› added 8 years ago

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TIL that the ability to taste cucumbers is genetic. Those who with the gene tend not to like the bitter taste whereas those without the gene experience a nearly tasteless fruit.

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7j97 TIL the British online newspaper ‘The Independent’ is owned by Russian oligarch, Alexander Lebedev and his son. Lebedev also owns a stake in Gazprom, a Russian oil company headquarter in Moscow, and a stake in Sbrerbank, a Russian bank accused of funding insurgents in Ukraine.
p58N TIL That SR-71 pilots sometimes came from bomber aircraft because nobody else had experience in long supersonic flights. A crew taken from a B-58 Hustler ended up setting a world record for longest supersonic flight after flying the SR-71 for over 10 hours… over 15,000 miles. Nonstop.
xGvD TIL in 1860 the original The Game of Life board game had a “suicide” option.
6mB8 TIL queen bees continues to mate until she collects more than 70 million sperm from multiple males.
VMbMm TIL when Jonas Salk, who developed the first protective agent for polio, was asked about who has the patent, he responded by saying "Well the people, I would say, there is no patent" and then laughs saying "could you patent the sun?"