› added 4 years ago

282

TIL: Nazis offered Iron Cross for 4 Finnish Jews during WW2. None accepted. For example, Leo Skurnik was awarded Iron Cross for evacuating a German soldier under enemy fire. Major Skurnik told the Germans that Skurnik would "wipe his arse with the medal."

woe88 TIL that Japanese great tits have a unique alarm call for crows, martens and snakes
4k0xg TIL that the youngest person ever elected to the U.S. Congress was William Charles Cole Claiborne, who served at just 22 years old. Despite the constitutional requirement that representatives be at least 25 years old, his election was allowed due to his exceptional qualifications and popularity.
1aZrr TIL of "Münchhausen trilemma" which expresses that absolute truth is impossible because someone can just ask "Why?" forever which leads to 1 of 3 options; the proof and theory end up the same, infinite regression of the proof, or one party simply gives up and accepts a truth without actual proof
LkQ59 Scientists have isolated the brains of dogs, cats and monkeys and kept them alive for short periods in one way or another. But the most successful "whole-brain preparation" of a mammal was developed in the mid-1980s. A neuroscientist at NYU Langone Medical Center named Rodolfo Llinás came up with a way to keep the brain of a young guinea pig alive in a fluid-filled tank for the length of a standard workday.
4mDw TIL When Steve Jobs refused to give early Apple employees stock, Steve Wozniak offered them $10 million worth of his