› added 9 years ago

1046

TIL platypuses don’t have stomachs

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rND8x TIL Marcus Aurelius' decision to waive the imperial tax on the sale of gladiators was so popular that the transcript of the entire senate debate on the law was carved in stone across the empire, an expensive and thus unique undertaking. The tax break was estimated at 30-20 million sesterces a year
rWR0 TIL Humans can survive indefinitely on a diet of just potatoes and butter
NMM TIL the San Diego Zoo monorail was named WGASA when a staffer responded to a memo requesting an “African sounding name” with the acronym for “who gives a shit anyway?”
b9XOa TIL that Christian Bales portrayal of Patrick Bateman in 'American Psycho' was partially based on Tom Cruise. Bale was unsure of how he should portray the character until he noticed and was influenced by Cruises "intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes" persona during an interview.
PKoE TIL the CIA used “weather modification” as a tactical weapon by increasing rains(cloud seeding) over Vietnam during the Vietnam War in order to slow Vietnamese military activity in the region.