› added 10 years ago

90

TIL that more than 40% of the Dutch Wikipedia (~800.000 articles) is made up of biology articles, mostly on insects.

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via reddit.com

KOKbQ TIL Spaceman Spiff from Calvin and Hobbes was written as a parody of the space opera genre, spoofing Flash Gordon and Star Wars.
npwG TIL that the first pregnancy tests on record were in Ancient Egypt. Women would pee on a field of wheat and barley. If the wheat sprouted, it was going to be a girl. If the barley sprouted, it was going to be a boy. If neither sprouted, the woman wasn’t pregnant.
ZVdD TIL some species of carpenter ants can explode at will. As a last resort, they contract their abs to rupture their internal glands, resulting in a suicidal burst of corrosive, immobilizing glue.
5JmR TIL Randy Rhoads is considered one of the best metal guitar players but he didn’t like metal music. He didn’t listen to it and he didn’t own those kinds of records. At the peak of his success he wanted to leave metal to earn a degree in classical guitar.
yQgBJ TIL 50% of American adults are incapable of reading a book written on an eighth-grade level.