› added 6 years ago

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TIL that the smell of the air after a storm is caused by Geosmin: A chemical released by dead soil bacteria. Humans are hyper sensitive to it, capable of detecting at a concentration of 5 parts per trillion. It's theorised in our evolutionary past this helped us seek out water.

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4kRJg TIL that Michigan law forbids lawsuits against negligent bosses who caused employees' deaths. For this reason, the family of a mechanic who was killed on the job had to sue the car's owner in order to get compensation from the employer he was killed by (a Jeep dealership).
8av9K TIL Conrad Heyer is the earliest born person to be photographed. He was born in 1749 and sat for a photo in 1852 at age 103. He is the only known photographed revolutionary war soldier to have crossed the Delaware with George Washington.
YpKrZ TIL Sony released a camcorder in 1998 that could inadvertently see through people's clothing.
grnGy TIL Luke Helder, who in 2002 planted pipe bombs in various places to draw a smiley face across America, is still being held indefinitely at a federal mental health facility after being declared incompetent to stand trial
VwjG TIL that in 2010 a british policeman drove an Ice cream van into the middle of a riot and played “ice-cream van” music in an attempt to calm the youths. The official report was, ‘humour defused the situation and the trouble stopped’.