› added 5 years ago

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TIL on 1816, after the French frigate ran aground the coast of Mauritania, 150 passengers and sailors went on a raft. They were found 15 days later, only 15 survived, the rest dying from drowning, hunger and violence from other survivors. Most had to eat human flesh to survive

nBA7 TIL there has been a number of long term studies on the possibility of dosing food in radiation as a form of preservation and sterilization. However, while it has been found to be completely safe, there is a large resistance to it because of the negative impression of and confusion over radiation.
kdYW TIL that in each new commercial, the character “Mayhem” from the Allstate Insurance Agency advertisements sports all of the damage and injuries sustained in the previous ones
WZVA TIL: Breastfeeding allows a baby to give germs to the mother so that her immune system can respond and can synthesize antibodies for the baby.
5aJn TIL that Mattel released an action figure of Stinkor, an anthropomorphic skunk supervillain of the He-Man universe, in 1985. Patchouli Oil was added to the molds to recreate the character’s unpleasant superpower. Toy collectors report the action figures continuing to reek after 30 years.
awKXZ TIL that animals in heraldry are sometimes shown "pizzled", i.e. with a prominent penis. It was often considered very important for the animal in the local herald to be pizzled - when a Swiss printer forgot a pizzle on the bear in the Appenzell canton's herald in 1579, it almost led to war.