› added 2 months ago

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TIL that at a 2004 horse race, over 13,000 fans placed bets totalling ¥121,751,200 on a first place victory for Haru Urara—a horse nicknamed the "shining star of losers everywhere." Haru Urara finished the race in 10th out of 11 spots, her 106th consecutive loss.

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BrpLy TIL that the box jellyfish has 24 eyes, two of which are capable of seeing color, and four parallel information processing areas that act in competition. This makes it one of the few creatures to have a 360-degree view of its environment.
oBYVY TIL that the Plague of Justinian lasted over 200 years (541-750 CE) and killed up to 50% of Europe, meaning multiple generations of families lived everyday of their lives facing an incredibly deadly pandemic.
awgdA TIL Americans spent about $150b on cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and meth in 2016, about the same amount they spent on alcohol.
neLNo TIL that Leigh Brackett, the original screenwriter of The Empire Strikes Back, died from cancer in 1978 before the film began production.
OoLWe Today I learned that in the 1880s, a young man named Larry Donovan attempted to make a living solely by jumping off high bridges. When he died at the age of 26, his mother was quoted in the newspaper saying: "I told him that jumping off bridges was a poor way of earning a living."