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TIL about Kentucky abolitionist politician Cassius Marcellus Clay. During a debate in 1843, he survived an assassination attempt due to his political views. Despite being shot in the chest, Clay drew his Bowie knife, tackled his would be assassin, cut out his eyes, and threw him over an embankment.

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d8DWd No one is entirely sure. Water has high surface tension, yet the molecules at its surface are unstable, which makes the air-surface interface mysterious and difficult to describe. Satoshi Nihonyanagi, a researcher at a molecular-spectroscopy lab in Japan, studies water and its surface—"specifically probing the interface," he calls it—using isotopically diluted H2O, which doesn't vibrate and is easier to observe. He's found that some water molecules are bound to others by a single hydrogen bond.
xmOw TIL a local fisherman in Costa Rica nursed a crocodile back to health after it had being shot in the head, and released the reptile back to its home. The next day, the man discovered “Pocho” had followed him home and was sleeping on the mans porch. For 20 years Pocho became part of the mans family
yM1e TIL that a succulent native to Morocco produces Resiniferatoxin, a compound so spicy that it is approximately 1,000 times stronger than pure capsacin on the Scoville scale. It can cause severe chemical burns and is being researched towards a possible new class of analgesics
nm8G TIL that a man who had half of his body amputated after being run over by a truck opened his own bargain supermarket, called the Half Man-Half Price Store.
epPQ5 TIL about Donald Harvey, a nurse who murdered 37 patients, was apprehended after a medical examiner with the genetic ability to detect cyanide performed an autopsy on one of his victims, leading to an investigation that uncovered Harvey's crimes.