› added 12 years ago

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TIL the venom of the Sydney funnel-web spider found in Australia can kill a man in 15 minutes by elevating blood pressure and causing the air sacs in the lungs to burst (pulmonary edema)causing the victim to effectively drown on dry land. All mammals are immune except for Primates.

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4MDw TIL a man named James Harrison pledged to donate blood once he turned 18 after needing 13 liters of blood during a major chest surgery at 13. It was discovered that his blood contained a rare antigen which cured Rhesus disease. He has donated blood more than 1,000 times, saving over 2,000,000 lives.
XEXJk TIL that "Fight Club" author Chuck Palahniuk's short story "Guts" made people faint at his book readings.
kLBm TIL Van Gogh didn’t cut off his own ear; he made up that story to protect his friend, who cut it off with a sword during a heated argument.
6E86w TIL of Mason McDeid who cried constantly from severe cerebral palsy issues; his father failed to comfort him with classical & new age music. Then he tried Metallica & the child stopped crying, fell asleep. Now in his 20s, unable to speak, Mason has had 100+ surgeries & attended 450+ metal concerts.
OGZo1 TIL that after John Lennon's murder, Keith Richards, who was a few miles south of the Dakota at the time, got his own gun and was searching through the streets for the killer