› added 3 years ago

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TIL that it's possible that weather forecasting has been illegal in the UK until 1951. King Henry VIII outlawed foretelling the weather, since it was regarded as an act of foretelling the future, hence a witchcraft. The Witchcraft Acts which made whichcraft illegal was not repealed until 1951.

Read more metoffice.gov.uk

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Ap74 TIL according to Cynthia Lennon - John’s first wife - in regards to child support and the divorce settlement he said: “My final offer is seventy-five thousand pounds. That’s like winning the pools (lottery), so what are you moaning about? You’re not worth any more.”
1xoV TIL starting in the 1960s, the American Heart Association advised the public to eat less saturated fat and switch to vegetable oils for a “healthy heart.” The American Heart Association was founded in part by the makers of Crisco.
E1Z0p TIL the avocado industry in Mexico is so big that the Mexican cartel for years took over farms through extortion. But the city of Tancítaro, the world capital of avocado production, took back their farms back by arming their citizens, building their own police, and bulletproofing their trucks.
WkdvB TIL researchers have mapped the genome of the Indian cobra (Naja naja). They found 12,000 genes expressed in the venom glands; of these, 139 help create toxins, and a subset of 19 genes cause paralysis/nausea/internal bleeding. It forms the platform to synthesize an ideal antidote to the cobra bite.
D1PgP TIL that in 1875 a swarm of 12.5 trillion locusts covering 198,000 square miles and weighing 27.5 million tons descended upon the Great Plains, devouring all plant life in their path. Farmers that tied to shoo them away had the clothes eaten right off their bodies.