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157

TIL about John Cummings; a man who swallowed 35 knives over the course of 6 years, the first time was to prove to people that he could, and each time afterwards was to prove it to people who didn't believe him, he eventually died from the effects of this in 1809

Read more ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

via reddit.com

QJvg6 TIL of Pareidolia, the tendency of people to see faces, animals or objects in random data, such as clouds. The Rorschach test attempts to use this phenomenon to gain insight into a person's mental state.
M8eK TIL that in 1932 a riot invaded Newfoundland’s government building. The prime minister barely escaped injury and resigned. In 1933 the country—like Canada, an independent English-speaking country neighboring the US—gave up self-government and voluntarily became a British colony again.
QJAKa TIL the "Doctor" title was appropriated by physicians, who took it FROM academia. History has dictated the use of the courtesy title Dr by physicians and general practitioners. However, surgeons do not use the title of Dr and, due to the origins of surgery with the barber surgeons.
QkPk TIL baby elephants still need to learn how to drink using their nose, that it’s not one of their instincts.
b0G0 TIL that on September 11th, 2001, Officer John Perry of the NYPD went to headquarters to file retirement paperwork. When he heard the explosion at the world trade center he immediately responded and was later killed when one of the towers collapsed. He was the only off-duty officer killed on 9/11.