› added 12 years ago

132

TIL that in Chernobyl they planted hemp to remove toxins from the soil in a process that’s called “phytoremediation”

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via reddit.com

WkB4A TIL America and "the Americas" were named after Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian navigator and merchant. "America" was chosen because it matches Europe and Asia, which are also womens names.
nVnP TIL To this day you still cannot become king or queen of England if you are or ever been a Roman Catholic
RVo9 TIL that the fact that most dust is formed of dead skin cells is a myth. Most of it is just animal dander, sand, insect waste, flour, and of course lots of good, old-fashioned dirt.
WbJ4 TIL that an early Chinese surgeon named Hua Tuo used Cannabis mixed with wine as an anaesthetic. As a result the Chinese term for “anesthesia” (mázui 麻醉) literally means “cannabis intoxication”.
VB5MZ TIL The Bechdel test, also known as the Bechdel-Wallace test, is a measure of the representation of women in film and other fiction. The test asks whether a work features at least two female characters who have a conversation about something other than a man.