› added 5 years ago

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TIL of Aeroflot Flight 6502, where the pilot made a bet with the co-pilot that he could land the plane "blind". The plane crashed, resulting in 70 fatalities. The pilot survived, and served only a 6-year prison sentence.

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YpgbB TIL about the Gympie Gympie bush (or “Suicide Tree”). It delivers a sting described as “like being burnt with hot acid and electrocuted at the same time”. One man was stung and after 3 weeks of agony, was driven “as mad as a cut snake”. Another shot himself after using the leaves as toilet paper.
lo5MN TIL Anaphylaxis isn't always a sudden, dramatic reaction, and can come on slowly, with only a few mild-appearing symptoms for up to 20 minutes after exposure. It can also come back for another round of symptoms hours after, which is why getting immediate medical attention is so important.
DPjj TIL that the longest traffic jam in history was 62 Miles long lasting 12 days.
0VJ1 TIL: In 1999 an Australian called Bill Morgan was hit by a truck and was clinically dead for 14 minutes. When he awoke he bought a scratch card and won a car worth $25,000. When asked to recreate this for the news he won the $250,000 jackpot live in air.
J18Y8 TIL of "boosting", where disabled athletes with spinal cord injuries can boost their performance by deliberately breaking one of their toes