› added 11 years ago

94

TIL that a tequila worm living on an agave plant is actually indicative of a lower quality tequila due to infestation

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

VMa7Z TIL that a boy in the UK was born with only 2% of his brain. His parents were told he would live in a vegetative state, if at all; they had even prepared his funeral before he was born. By age 3, the boy's brain had grown to 80% the normal size. Now 9, he can read and do math.
OoQ06 TIL when explorers first saw the Giant Sequoia trees in Northern California, they named the biggest one "The Discovery Tree," and immediately made plans to cut it down. The felled tree was used to advertise as a tourist attraction with the tree's stump used as a dance floor.
KONdB TIL Allvar Gullstrand applied the methods of physical mathematics to the study of optical images and refraction of light in the eye and received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1911. Due to the math in his works, it is lamented there are few ophthalmologists and physiologists who can understand it
nJAr TIL that the seconds hands in train station clocks in Switzerland run 1.7 % faster, then stop for an extra second at the top of the minute (as they are synchronized). That gives trains a full 2 seconds during which they can leave exactly on time.
JY5X8 TIL that Idaho does not have a governor's mansion. The business tycoon J.R. Simplot donated his mansion to the state, but the cost of lawn maintenance depleted state funds and the state eventually gave it back to the Simplot Family.