› added 8 years ago

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TIL of Aki Ra, a former child soldier forced to lay landmines in Cambodia who now spends his time removing mines from around the country. He has personally removed as many as 50,000 mines and started by using only a knife, a hoe, a stick and a Leatherman.

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oBXyR TIL John Hinckley Jr's motive for attempting to assassinate Ronald Reagan was to try and woo Jodie Foster, emulating Robert De Niro's character from the film Taxi Driver
PYvje TIL that clozapine (an antipsychotic drug) can cause constipation so severe that you vomit fecal material. A man is reported of dying from pneumonia that developed after aspirating such vomitus.
xVJD0 TIL that Tumors can grow teeths, eyes and skulls in very rare cases.
pYmPb TIL DeForest Kelley, who played Dr McCoy in Star Trek, wanted to become a doctor, but couldn't afford medical school. He regularly received letters from fans who went into medicine because of him and said "to influence the youth of the country ... is an award that is not handed out by the industry"
WkyVL TIL technology already exists that lets one eavesdrop on a conversation across soundproof glass, without even seeing the speakers' mouths. Tiny vibrations caused by the sound on nearby objects like a houseplant or bag of chips can be used to derive the original sound/conversation.