› added 6 years ago

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TIL that skeletal muscles are strong enough to break bones. After tetanus contraction, the bacteria interferes with normal muscle nerve function. Muscular contractions can become strong enough to break the spine.

neR6W TIL Paganism was still practiced in parts of Ireland as late as the 1850s. The idol , Naomhóg was worshiped in the Inishkea Islands and was credited with power over weather, health and potatoes. It was allegedly thrown into the sea by a catholic priest called ‘Big Paddy’ O’Reilly in the 1890’s.
XE7dR TIL Pitcairn Islands are the least populated democratic nation in the world. Settled in 1789 by mutineers of the famous Mutiny on the Bounty, their descendants make up the bulk of the town's 50-ish residents. The wreck is even still visible underwater in Bounty Bay
v1xWL TIL: the "legs" you see in old high speed footage of nuclear tests are a result of the explosion chasing down the wires of the support tower. The metal of the wire conducts heat faster than the surrounding air, allowing the pulses to move out ahead of the rest of the blast.
6EEB7 TIL There is a single colony of ants that spans three continents, covering much of Europe, the west coast of the U.S and the west coast of Japan. "The enormous extent of this population is only parrelled by human society".
GMkG TIL that in 1958 in Monroe, North Carolina, two black boys, 7-old David Simpson and 9-old James Hanover Thompson, were arrested after being kissed by a white girl on their cheeks in a neighborhood game. They were charged with molestation and sent to reform school.