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TIL that Benjamin Franklin tried to convince the Royal Academy of Brussels “To discover some Drug…that shall render the natural Discharges of Wind from our Bodies, not only inoffensive, but as agreeable as Perfumes.”

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6E408 TIL that immediately after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, her secretary will inform the Prime Minister via a secure phone line by saying "London Bridge is down", thus initiating Operation London Bridge, a detailed procedure that outlines the action for days and weeks after the sovereign's death.
8amda TIL researchers modeled a system where the Peter Principle holds true and found that instead of promoting the best employees until they reach a level where they stop performing competently, it's more efficient for a company to promote employees at random. For this research they won an Ig Nobel.
XoaP TIL a person infected with toxoplasmosis is more than twice as likely to be in a car accident—attributed to the parasite’s tendency to reduce reaction time—and has a higher than normal risk of schizophrenia and suicide
16xjW TIL Bees could see the color difference between two pieces of “white” paper. Researchers used zinc white for one paper and lead white for the other, and although these look exactly the same to us, the bee could easily distinguish them, because they reflect a different amount in the ultraviolet
6EnV8 TIL about 'bureiko', the Japanese system by which employees can tell their boss what they really think about their work and jobs, without any negative consequences.