› added 4 months ago

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TIL about Đorđe Martinović a Serb farmer from Kosovo who was at the center of a notorious incident in May 1985, when he was treated for injuries caused by the insertion of a bottle into his anus. The Martinović affair, as it became known, turned into a cause célèbre in Yugoslav politics.

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JYAy8 TIL Humans are still evolving. One fast-evolving gene is human accelerated region 1 (HAR1), which is needed during brain development. In Tibet, a rapid surge in frequency of a mutated gene that increases blood oxygen content gives locals a survival advantage in higher altitudes.
4kLA5 TIL of Louis, Duc D’Orléans, the brother of King Charles the VII who accidently set fire to 6 dancers at his brother's party with a torch. 4 of the 6 dancers died. One jumped into a wine barrel and the King who was one of the dancers was saved by his niece when she covered him with her dress.
rjrW TIL that over 100 million Sharks per year are killed to fuel the shark fin industry. This has caused the populations to drop 60-90% over the last 15 years.
gMPW7 TIL that there is no blue pigmentation in blue eyes. The eyes appear blue as a result of Rayleigh scattering, the same process that makes the sky appear blue.
kOQke TIL that the USA was never intended to be an actual democracy of the people. The Federalist Papers stated that the republic would exist "in the total exclusion of the people, in their collective capacity, from any share” of lawmaking.