› added 5 years ago

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TIL about Alfred Russel Wallace, a young Welsh explorer who spent 4 years in Brazil, nearly blind after his glasses broke. While returning home the ship caught fire, destroying all his findings. He then went to Malaysia, collecting 127,000 specimens. In 1858 he conceived his own theory of evolution.

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W7Y4L TIL In 2011 the Belly Button Biodiversity project was created to study bacteria in the naval. Researchers found 2,368 different species from just 66 people, half of which were previously unknown. The average person hosted 67 different species, but no single species was common to every person.
g0dD TIL that, in July 2005, the British radio station Planet Rock invited their listeners to select a singer, guitarist, bassist and drummer to create the “ideal supergroup”. The members of Led Zeppelin won in each category.
Oo6Jg TIL Sir James Matthew Barrie assigned the copyright in Peter Pan to Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. Peter Pan is the only copyright in the UK that has been extended in perpetuity, meaning the Hospital can receive royalties forever. It is the copyright which never grows old.
1aAlO TIL Gary Dahl became a millionaire almost overnight by selling rocks he got off a Mexican beach to Americans as pets for $4.
a84wN TIL that you are not supposed to rinse your mouth with water after brushing teeth or using a mouthwash, because the fluoride coating on your teeth helps protect against cavities and rinsing your mouth after dilutes the fluoride, making it ineffective. Instead, you should wait, preferably 20 minutes.