› added 10 years ago

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TIL an Indian man was declared dead due to a greedy relative and a corrupt official. He won an Ignoble prize for his 19 year fight to reverse it.

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via reddit.com

p8rw4 TIL that the tongue twister “She sells seashells by the seashore” is based on the life of Mary Anning. Mary and her brother learned to find, identify and sell fossils in an effort to support their family after their father died.
ne48Y TIL real wasabi is actually pretty rare, expensive, and loses flavor within 15 minutes, so most of the time it’s actually made from horseradish.
XEROj TIL that Inuit in northern Greenland were using iron blades for centuries without knowledge of metallurgy. They made them by breaking pieces off of a huge iron meteorite and shaping them with heavy stones. They built their settlements close to the meteorite and used its iron for generations.
VBMOp TIL that 86% of acute onset OCD cases are linked to streptococcus infections in children due to pediatric acute onset neuropsychiatric syndrome.
nWrPB TIL astronomers actually use lasers to project fake stars into the atmosphere, in order to measure & compensate for atmospheric distortions, allowing them a much clearer image of real stars.