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TIL Ducks can keep their eyes open underwater due to a transparent third, sideways eyelid called a Nictitating membrane or haw. All birds have it and even humans have a vestigial remnant called the plica semilunaris.

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v1p8x TIL Psilocybin comprises approximately 1% of the weight of Psilocybe cubensis mushrooms, and so nearly 1.7 kilograms (3.7 lb) of dried mushrooms, or 17 kilograms (37 lb) of fresh mushrooms, would be required for a 60-kilogram (130 lb) person to reach the 280 mg/kg LD50 value of rats.
epyv4 TIL Dealey Plaza in Dallas remains virtually unchanged since 1963. There is a proposal to make Elm Street into a pedestrian promenade since tourists often wander onto the painted X where Kennedy was shot as well as an amphitheater for visitors to contemplate the assassination site
7oJL TIL there have been 14 known fatalities in Britain from native adder bites since 1876. Recovery from a bite can take up to a year.
p8LJe TIL the word rooster was coined by English colonial protestants in the 1700s as an alternative to the word cock, in order to avoid the vulgar connotations. Until relatively recent times, this was primarily an Americanism, with most of the English speaking world still using cock for a male chicken.
mxpZv TIL that a farmer called Almon Strowger invented automatic telephone switching because he didn't trust his local telephone operator. She was the wife of his competition and Strowger suspected that she was diverting requests for his services to her husband’s business instead.