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TIL that when a woodpecker hammers away, their tongue retreats into its skull wrapping itself around the brain protecting it from the shocks

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xY4k TIL the man who killed President McKinley, often dismissed as a mentally disturbed anarchist, did it in part due to US policies in the Philippines at the time, which though nearly forgotten today, resulted in the deaths of 200k-250k civilians and over 5,000 US troops
b619Z TIL that there's an underground coal fire in Australia that's been continuously burning for ~6000 years.
b9BnZ TIL in England in 1858, a confectioner making peppermint lozenges tried to purchase harmless powdered gypsum from a local pharmacist but was accidentally sold 12 pounds of arsenic trioxide. 21 people died and more than 200 others became ill when the poisoned candy was unwittingly sold to the public.
WZBd TIL: North Carolina performed forced sterilizations well into 1970s to combat poverty and welfare costs. If their board deamed you mentally defective, that was their solution.
1akYd TIL that the Salema Porgy is a species of fish that can cause hallucinations when eaten. In Ancient Rome it was consumed as a recreational drug.