› added 4 years ago

186

TIL sea mussels use organometallic iron-based bonds in their cuticles. Simulating this feature in synthetic replicas increased tensile strength 58x, toughness 92x, resistance to being deformed elastically 770x, and increased the amount of stress required to permanently damage them 76x.

EYPV TIL That living at high altitude can protect you from certain diseases, but increases your risk of suicide… and we’re not entirely sure why.
yAjp TIL in the 18th century, stage actor Robert “Romeo” Coates was so bad, yet self-assured with his acting, that theaters would sell out from sheer curiosity. He’d often act out dramatic death scenes multiple times, frighten Juliet, and once came back on stage with a crowbar to pry open Capulet’s tomb.
5RQP TIL of Dewey Bozella, a Boston native who was imprisoned for 26 years for a murder he did not commit. In those 26 years, 2 felons put the murder on him, was denied parole several times, the evidence against him was destroyed by police, and evidence proving his innocence was never brought to trial.
7KgZ TIL In 1939, Georg Elser, a 36-year-old carpenter from a small town in southern Germany, spent 30 nights hollowing out a pillar in a German beer hall in order to plant a bomb. Acting in secret and without the help of anyone else, he had a meticulous plan to kill Adolph Hitler. He almost succeeded.
Y7gJ7 TIL that LBJ constantly asked the flight crew of Air Force One to change the temperature of the cabin. Eventually, they installed a fake control knob for him to 'control' the temperature himself. The president stopped complaining.