› added 3 years ago

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TIL grasshoppers & locusts are the same species. Grasshoppers are generally solitary & innocuous, but when overcrowded, a chemical releases in their brain which turns them into a locust — ravenous, horny, and attracted to large groups. Oddly enough, that brain chemical is: Serotonin

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gxrD TIL that Nigeria will exceed the US in population by 2050, despite being 1/10th the size
grxP8 TIL When the 1930s musician Russ Columbo died from an accidental gunshot, his siblings went to great lengths to conceal the news from his mother, who had a heart condition. They wrote fake letters from him and used records to simulate his radio show. This continued until she died a decade later.
xVO71 TIL that in 1980 a drilling rig in Lake Peigneur drilled into a mine underneath the lake causing the lake to drain, a connecting canal to flow backward, the highest waterfall in LA, and 400-foot geysers. Eleven barges, the drilling rig, one tugboat, and 65 acres were destroyed.
oB7YR TIL that in 1916 there was a proposed Amendment to the US Constitution that would put all acts of war to a national vote, and anyone voting yes would have to register as a volunteer for service in the United States Army.
5VrjP TIL the song Harper Valley PTA (1968) became a movie (1978) and a TV show (1981). Has this happened before or since with a single song?