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TIL that a single sunflower is actually an inflorescence made of up to thousands of smaller flowers

Read more seeds.ca

via reddit.com

kj97 TIL that one reason Catholics don’t eat meat during Lent is they thought it made you horny
XdY8 TIL that the man behind the ban of marijuana Harry Anslinger may have done so because of racism, reportedly stating that black and Mexican were the primary users. It was banned even though there was no scientific evidence of it being dangerous to mental health.
negR9 TIL of the gömböc, a convex three-dimensional homogeneous shape that when resting on a flat surface has just one stable and one unstable point of equilibrium. The balancing properties of the gömböc are associated with the "righting response" ⁠ ⁠of shelled animals such as tortoises and beetles.
b9pEj TIL Russia attempted to send a satellite, Luna 15, to the moon to collect rocks and fire them back to Earth to beat the US in obtaining them first. In the end, Luna 15 crashed into the moon a safe distance away, just a few hours before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin began their journey home.
OGDle TIL the Volkswagen Type 1 (Beetle) was first brought to the US in 1949. Only two vehicles were sold, convincing the VW chairman that the car had no future in the US.