› added 10 months ago

169

TIL at least 1/3 of the Great Barrier Reef is already bleached

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via reddit.com

nerEr TIL - Airline Engine Manufacturers occasionally test how well their engines can withstand the impact of a flock of birds. To do this, they use what is called a "Chicken Gun"; where they fire dead chickens into a running engine through a large diameter cannon.
9OWQ TIL the first thing ever bought and sold across the Internet was a bag of marijuana. In 1971 or 1972, students at Stanford University’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory used ARPANET—the earliest iteration of the Internet—to arrange a marijuana deal with their counterparts at the MIT
YyRG TIL the Manchineel tree is considered the most poisonous tree in the world. It causes painful blisters if you stand under it during rain, blinds you if smoke from its burned wood touches your eyes, can poison water with its leaves, and will cause death if you eat its fruits.
P1apn TIL about Eddie Waitkus, who was the inspiration for Robert Redford’s character in “The Natural.” Waitkus almost died in 1949 after being shot by an obsessed female fan. It is one of the earliest recognized cases of criminal stalking
1aagP TIL The crust (crimped edge) of a Cornish Pasty was used as a handle which was then discarded due to the high levels of arsenic in many of the tin mines