› added 7 months ago

255

TIL there's a stinging tree called Gympie Gympie that has a toxin so excruciating it's driven people and animals to suicide. It feels like being doused in hot acid and electrocuted.

Read more discovery.com

via reddit.com

p8njZ TIL in the late Middle Ages, A man accused of murder fought the victim's dog in a trial by combat. As the dog's jaws were around his throat, he confessed and was hanged.
9Yg1B TIL Rifles like the AK-47 have curved magazines because their bullet cases are conical (a.k.a "tapered") rather than cylindrical. Thus, they stack in a curve. Tapered cases have less friction with the chamber when they feed or extract.
k5X4 TIL St. Fiarce is a patron saint of hemorrhoids. He miraculously cured his inflamed anus by placing it upon a blessed rock. The stone survives to this day, imprinted with his holy hole, and many still flock to it hoping to cure themselves.
gMywL TIL that an island in the middle of Loch Lomond in Scotland is home to roughly 60 wallabies
Eg9AV TIL Geosmin compound causes the earthy petrichor smell of rain after a dry spell, also causes muddy freshwater fish taste...diminished by acidic cooking