› added 1 year ago

88

TIL Opossums can climb brick walls

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ZpRPQ TIL that Gymnocalycium cacti have an incredible survival strategy for enduring long droughts in their native South American grasslands and rocky areas: they can shrink and bury themselves partially into the soil, reducing exposure to the harsh environment until rain returns
p7w8 TIL that Jack Johnson (the first ever African American heavyweight boxing champion) was pulled over for a $50 speeding ticket, but he gave the officer $100 telling him to keep the change as he was going to make the return trip at the same speed.
AO0l TIL that quarantine comes from the Italian word quaranta, meaning 40 because ships coming in had to spend 40 days off shore to prevent latent plague victims from coming in
VB5gp TIL Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Mussolini and Hitler are reputed to have suffered from ailurophobia - the fear of cats.
D64Y TIL that after Germany discovered the link between smoking and lung cancer, the Nazis initiated a strong anti-tobacco movement. Hitler himself called tobacco “the wrath of the Red Man against the White Man, vengeance for having been given hard liquor.”