› added 1 month ago

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TIL about the Akodessawa Fetish Market in Lome, Togo, the world's largest voodoo market ("Fetish" refers to an object believed to possess spiritual or supernatural powers). Fetishes for sale include monkey heads, dead birds, and other dead animal products.

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via reddit.com

mx8DP TIL that Joseph Christopher (.22-Calibre Killer) attempted to admit himself in a psychiatric center weeks before his killing spree but was deferred to counseling instead.
R7jyQ TIL that in south London in 1864, Thomas Webster Rammell built an atmospheric railway for passenger transportation, called Crystal Palace Pneumatic Railway, that went around 39.6 km/h (24.6 mph) through a 2.7x3m tunnel just by varying the air pressure in the tunnel before/behind the railway wagon.
x8P1 TIL every baseball used in the MLB since the 1950s has been treated with “rubbing mud” that is gathered from a secret location by the Bintliff family. The mud is used to help remove the slick finish on the ball and give the pitcher more grip.
yVA58 TIL that tuberculosis was first brought to the Americas by seals that contracted it on beaches of Africa and carried it across the Atlantic around 1,000 years ago. In South America, it was likely contracted first by hunters who handled contaminated meat.
awD4y TIL when Richard Feynman was interviewed for an article titled "The World's Smartest Man", his mother responded when she found out: “Our Richie? The world’s smartest man? God help us!"