› added 4 years ago

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TIL Scientists discovered what they think are the world's oldest biological colours - they are bright pink. The pigments were discovered after researchers crushed 1.1billion year old rocks in the marine shale deposit beneath the Sahara desert.

Read more theguardian.com

via reddit.com

oRZrE TIL The NYC Great Cat Massacre: In 1916 the fear that pet cats were responsible for the polio epidemic led to the killing of 72,000 cats and 8,000 dogs in New York City.
E1XLw TIL that not only do chimps self-medicate, but they also medicate / treat the wounds of other chimps in their community - an act previously thought to be unique to humans
QgxX TIL there is an island which is so densely populated by poisonous snakes the Brazilian Navy has quarantined it and a biologist once said that when on the island you are “never more than three feet from death.” Oh, and it’s called “Snake Island.”
l7OkN TIL almost every country or culture has their own variation of Meatloaf
nWxwo TIL Arabic numbers have only existed in their present form since about the 10th century. Only a few texts using Arabic numerals appeared outside of Italy until the late 15th century. It wasn't until the mid-16th century that Arabic numbers were in common use in most of Europe