› added 10 months ago

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TIL Dolphins name each other, and call each other by name.

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rN1Mx TIL the chemotherapy paclitaxel (Taxol) was first isolated from the bark of the Pacific yew tree. In 1987, anti-cancer effects were seen, but harvesting bark killed the trees. Scientists then raced to (and succeeded) in synthesizing the drug. Approved in 1992, Taxol still treats many cancers today.
1ayb7 TIL Gene Greytak was a real estate broker who moonlighted as an actor, but he only played and made personal appearances as Pope John Paul II. If you saw the Pope in a movie or on a sitcom before 2005, it was Gene.
neDDG TIL the reason backseat windows in cars don't roll all the way down is not in fact for child safety, but because there isn't room in the car door to fit the full window due to the wheel well.
o9jL TIL: One out of every four animals on Earth is a beetle
YpArx TIL: The game Chinese checkers was created in Germany