› added 12 years ago

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TIL that since 1988, all U.S. presidential debates have been controlled by the Commission on Presidential Debates. The Commission is a corporation owned 50% Democrat, 50% Republican, making it extremely unlikely that a 3rd party candidate will ever speak in any such debate.

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ZLEY TIL of Kleindeutschland - literally a German town in the middle of New York City. It had the third largest German speaking population in the world until 1000 women and children were killed in a tragic fire. The population never recovered.
b9BnZ TIL in England in 1858, a confectioner making peppermint lozenges tried to purchase harmless powdered gypsum from a local pharmacist but was accidentally sold 12 pounds of arsenic trioxide. 21 people died and more than 200 others became ill when the poisoned candy was unwittingly sold to the public.
6pNQ TIL we hear songs that get stuck in our head while performing tasks that require a “low cognitive load”, such as showering or getting dressed. Our brain uses these songs as a “screen saver” to keep us entertained while our brain is essentially idle.
e0jvk TIL there is a spider species, Bagheera kiplingi, that is mostly herbivorous, even actively avoiding confrontation with other insects while foraging for food. They sometimes rarely steal ant larvae or cannibalize during dry season, when the plant they prefer would be unavailable.
jNGmE TIL that platypuses produce milk despite lacking nipples. Instead of teats, they "sweat" milk from glands on their belly that their young then lap up.