› added 4 days ago

TIL that, in late 1920s before the rise of Hitler, India's first female anthropologist Irawati Karve rejected her German doctoral supervisor Eugene Fischer's hypothesis that White Europeans, in general, were higher in intelligence than Africans due to some asymmetrical features in their skulls.

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via reddit.com

m1lXY TIL about George Maledon, the "Prince of Hangmen." A hangman for the Federal court in Arkansas, he worked for "Hanging" Judge Parker. In 22 years he hanged over 60 men and shot 2 escapees. Asked if he regretted his job, he said "No, I have never hanged a man who came back to have the job done over."
D1owr TIL there is about 47.5 billion dollars on unused gift cards floating around since 2005
DQJJe TIL that due to their weakly interacting nature, neutrinos generated in the core of a collapsing star can escape before the shockwave and light of a supernova. They travel so fast that the light still doesn’t catch up with them even after traveling millions of light years.
b9JO7 TIL That Salvator Mundi, a painting of Christ holding a crystal orb, by Leonardo Da Vinci, is the current most expensive piece of art ever sold at auction. In 2017, it sold for $450.3M. In contrast, in 2005, at pre restoration, it sold for less than $10,000, as sellers believed it was a mere copy.
P1mn TIL that 94% of languages are spoken by 6% of the world’s population