› added 4 years ago

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TIL The chemical in catnip and silver vine, iridoid nepetalactol, that turns cats on is actually a mosquito repellent. Cats have evolved an endophin response to plants with this chemical to protect themselves from bites on the face. They aren't just having fun.

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p8LxG TIL that, 49 million years ago, moss rapidly transformed the earth from 'greenhouse earth' to 'icehouse earth' that we live in today - changing c02 from 3,000 ppm to 500 ppm.
E4Eo TIL in 1997, Sir Patrick Stewart put on and starred in a “photo-negative” production of Othello. He starred as a white Othello opposite a black cast. It was the first time this concept was used.
P19aV TIL that the term trypophobia (fear or disgust of irregular circular patterns) was coined by a participant in an online forum in 2005
JMW8 TIL: Krusty the Clown was originally supposed to be Homer Simpson in disguise!
eAL TIL a kamikaze pilot who struck the USS Missouri during WWII was given a military burial at sea with full honors after the captain decided the young Japanese pilot had done his job to the best of his ability. The dent in the side of the ship remains to this day.