› added 7 years ago

23521

TIL that half the DNA on the NYC Subway matches no known organism

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KYXy6 TIL Paula Baniszewski, who participated in torturing and murdering Sylvia Likens in 1965, attempted to escape prison twice in 1971.
Bgky TIL that the ‘irrational’ urge of a slave to escape his master was medically referred to as Drapetomania. A common prescription was removal of the big toes.
kOnD4 TIL that it can take a photon 40,000 years to reach the surface of the sun from the core, but only 8 minutes to travel to earth.
KYo9 TIL Leo Tolstoy wrote a book in 1908 called “Letter to a Hindu” in which he argued that the only way for India to gain independence from Britain was through non-violent resistance. Gandhi read this book and others by Tolstoy. They struck up a correspondence and the course of history was changed.
VPZQ TIL in 1986 a Russian Aeroflot pilot made a bet with the copilot that he could land successfully with the windows covered up. The plane crashed, killing 70 of the 94 on board.