› added 1 day ago

TIL at the 2005 London Marathon, Paula Radcliffe, in desperate need of a toilet break during the race, stopped by the roadside in full view of the crowd and live TV cameras to defecate. She still won with a time of 2:17:42, a world's best time for a women's only race by over a minute at the time.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

5YXEp TIL Torre Mayor, Mexico City, is one of the strongest buildings on Earth, being designed to withstand earthquakes measuring 8.5 on the Richter Scale. Occupants inside at the time of the 2003 earthquake did not know that a 7.6 tremor had occurred
5YKQ TIL a sow was dressed as a human and hanged for the death of an infant in 1386.
v1G47 TIL Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of women who were familiar with Dana Scully say the character increased their belief in the importance of STEM, half (50 percent) said Scully increased their interest in STEM, and nearly all (91 percent) said the character is a role model.
m1pXY TIL that Shavarsh Karapetyan, a former professional swimmer, heroically saved 20 people from icy, debris-filled waters. Sadly, this act ended his swimming career as he developed subsequent lung complications.
e04bb TIL that solid chocolate was only invented in the 1840s. Beforehand, chocolate powder was mostly consumed as a drink, and it wasn't until the 1870s that solid bars started to become more common.