› added 9 years ago

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TIL when Darwin was studying a Madagascar orchid whose flower had a foot long nectar filled tube, he hypothesized it had an as yet unknown pollinating moth with a proboscis of the same length, a length unprecedented at the time. Not until 21 years after his death was the moth finally discovered.

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p8ZJb TIL Psychology researchers found that pressure to feel upbeat can make you feel downbeat. Embracing your darker moods can make you feel better in the long-run.
Yp6Br TIL about Pierre Brassau, a painter, who sold one painting for 742$ at his very first exhibition in 1964, when he was only four years old.
0wVRp TIL Norway had the biggest merchant fleet during WW2 with over 1000 ships, and shipped 40% of the fuel to the allies during WW2. The British PM Winston Churchill and the US President Franklin Roosevelt stated that “Nortraship is worth more for the Allied cause than a million soldiers on the ground”
e08dk TIL that during World War 2, the US implemented a nationwide "Victory Speed Limit" of 35 mph to conserve gasoline and rubber for the war effort.
ANDVw TIL of the first adult themed cartoon "Eveready Harton in Buried Treasure". Exclusively screened at a party for animators, the short was created by 3 of the major animation studios of the day, but because no US film lab would touch it due to its risqué content, the film had to be developed in Cuba.