› added 2 years ago

72

TIL There are 5 basic human tastes: sweetness, saltiness, sourness, bitterness and umami.

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LQ1gZ TIL sperm have olfactory guidance. They literally smell their way to the egg.
yWj8 TIL there is a German children’s book from 1845 about three boys teasing a dark-skinned boy. To teach them a lesson, Saint Nicolas dips the three boys in black ink, to make them even darker-skinned than the boy they’d teased.
KO5RE TIL female gladiators or "gladiatrices" existed in ancient Rome, but were rare because it was considered unwomanly. One gladiatrix of note was a woman who fought wild boars with a spear while topless, and who would squat to urinate in front of a stunned crowd.
7rbYX TIL: Pheromone in baby mouse tears makes female mice less interested in sex.
gK47 TIL that according to his brother, the last words of Vincent van Gogh were “The Sadness Will Last Forever” following his supposed suicide.