› added 1 year ago

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TIL Pumpkin toadlets (Brachycephalus) are a species of frog that can jump but then go limp, spin, and fail at landing. Purportedly their semicircle ear canals have evolved to be too small to accurately detect angular acceleration while they’re airborne.

yQagl TIL in 2000, Canadian opposition leader Stockwell Day proposed referendums on internet petitions if they reached 350,000 signatures - or about 3% of the population. A comedian proposed that Stockwell Day legally change his first name to Doris. It got over 370,000 signatures
JN61 TIL Earl Sampson, a Florida black man, has been arrested for trespassing 62 times at the convenience store where he works.
PbVG TIL British rapper M.I.A. named her debut album “Arular” after the nom de guerre of her father, who fought in his native Sri Lanka as a Tamil Tiger. Her hope - which would be realized - was that he would one day google his old name, find her album, and reconnect with her.
D16RV TIL that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation was within months of completing a several mile section of expressway only to cancel the project. Bridges were built, guardrails installed, and funding dried up. They seeded the right of way to prevent erosion and allowed farm animals to graze.
YGBx TIL that in 1807 the British Navy put together the West Africa Squadron. Slaver hunters that chased down any slaver ships they could find crossing the Atlantic, and fining them up to £100 per slave on board. Slavers would often throw slaves overboard to avoid paying.