› added 1 year ago

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TIL that the sandbox tree, aka the 'dynamite tree' is covered in poison-filled spikes. Its pumpkin-shaped fruits, when ripe, explode and fling seeds at 250 km/h (160 mph).

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gr66X TIL that the children’s song “Do Your Ears Hang Low?” is a sanitized version of “Do Your Balls Hang Low?”, which was popular with British soldiers in WWI. General Douglas Haig once heard a column of soldiers singing it and went to berate their commander, only to find the commander singing along.
GY6eG TIL that the irukandji jellyfish is probably the smallest jellyfish, and the most venomous thing on earth.
GAlZN TIL that although frankincense was introduced to western Europe by Frankish crusaders, that's not why it's called that; it comes from the Old French word "franc," meaning pure or high-quality.
loAX1 TIL that Filipino churches built during Spain's colonial period used millions of egg whites in the concrete to make it more durable. This is also why Filipino desserts often use lots of egg yolks- many were developed to use up all the extra yolks from construction projects.
OW8L TIL psychologist Dan Ariely and others earned the 2008 Ig Nobel prize in medicine “ for demonstrating that high-priced fake medicine is more effective than low-priced fake medicine”