› added 7 years ago

402

TIL that before he became President, Grover Cleveland had an affair with a woman which resulted in her becoming pregnant, and in order to cover up the scandal he had her committed & her child sent to an orphanage.

Read more thedailybeast.com

via reddit.com

ANJEo TIL about the Echuya Batwa, a people native to Uganda's Impenetrable Forest. In 1991, they were evicted from their lands to make way for a nature reserve to protect the gorillas that live there. Today, they suffer from a life expectancy of only 28 and nearly half of all children don't live to five.
DQAOp TIL A 1965 study on social isolation in monkeys reported that while no monkeys died during the isolation, 1 of 6 monkeys isolated for 3 months refused to eat after release and died 5 days later. A 2nd animal refused to eat and would have died had they not resorted to forced feeding.
7rLP7 TIL lobsters have the enzyme called "telomerase" which stops DNA strands called "telomeres" from damage as new cells are made. Other organisms' telomeres erode with age, but lobsters can theoretically live forever, because their ability to create perfect copies of cells never erodes.
4XxOa TIL the rugged tropical Pacific island of Nuku Hiva is covered with pine forests, planted by sailors centuries ago. It makes parts of the island look like the European Alps.
awLJA TIL of the ‘Megatherium’ or Giant ground sloth, one of the largest land mammals known to have existed, weighing up to 4 tons, and measuring up to 6 m (20 ft) in length from head to tail, as big as modern elephants.