› added 7 years ago

608

TIL all vanilla beans must be hand pollinated because the only species of bee capable of pollinating a vanilla bean orchid is likely extinct.

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p8QYe TIL Boston was named after a town in England, which was named after this guy. Boston is a contraction of Botwulfs town.
xOBk TIL a lawyer was trying to prove, in a murder trial, that someone shot themselves, accidentally. While the lawyer was reenacting it he accidentally shot himself and died. He proved his point and the defendant was acquitted, only to be shot himself a few years later.
VMaNB TIL in the early 20th century there were baby alligators in the Boston Public Garden. They were fed live rats and mice by local residents
8ax98 TIL about Gulf War Illness: Over 1/3 of the veterans that served in the Gulf War experience the same horrendous symptoms, all caused by chemicals the US chose to expose them to. 7,424 of 7,845 claims of GW veterans were denied between 1994 and 1996 - and it's still hard for them to get a diagnosis.
KO6jE TIL that Australia was once home to a flightless bird known as the Demon-Duck of Doom