› added 2 months ago

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TIL that in ancient Rome, there was a job called a praegustator, a person who tasted food for poison before the emperor ate. It was one of the riskiest jobs in history.

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ZpGZB TIL about the speed-duration relationship across the animal kingdom. According to Dr. Mark Burnley's research, humans rank as fairly average competitors overall. For middle-distance, the gold goes to the painted ghost crab, while lizards dominate in ultimate endurance.
8eMp4 TIL about the unique tattoos designs the native Japanese people used to have
pO6Z TIL humans are unlikely to sink entirely into quicksand due to the higher density of the fluid: quicksand has a density of about 2 grams per milliliter, while human density is only about 1 gram per milliliter. A human would descend about up to their waist, but no further.
DQPde TIL in 1997 a Gorilla helped apprehend a criminal in the Johannesburg Zoo.
rRynw TIL that in medievel England, eels were used and accepted , to an extent, as currency, mostly in rental agreements. Many rental agreements, where the landlord would stipulate the rent due in "eel currency" were found. 25 eels would be a "stick". 10 sticks a bind.