› added 1 year ago

59

TIL that people used to think your kidneys controlled your conscience, and several Bible verses refer to God inspecting people’s kidneys.

94gQ Today I learned of the horseshoe theory which “ asserts that rather than the far left and the far right being at opposite and opposing ends of a linear political continuum, they in fact closely resemble one another, much like the ends of a horseshoe.” (the picture helps)
1a00W TIL about the Young Pioneers, a mass youth organization of the Soviet Union for children of age 9–15 that existed between 1922 and 1991. In line with the Soviet doctrine of state atheism, "every Pioneer would set up an atheist's corner at home with anti-religious pictures, poems, and sayings"
XElJX TIL there is project underway to bring back an animal from extinction and reintroduce it into its former habitat. The last remaining quagga, a subspecies of the plains zebra, died in 1883, and to date, the Quagga Project has succeeded in producing breeding lineages in 10 locations in South Africa.
VB0v4 TIL there is a tiny strip of land within Yellowstone Park called the “Zone of Death”. A constitutional quirk would allow a murder or other crime to take place, but not have enough resident to form a jury. Theoretically allowing a “get away with murder free zone”.
8epGb TIL the Big Gulp was invented in 1976, when Coca-Cola suggested that 7-11 use 32 oz. cups, much larger than 20 oz. cups being used by McDonalds at the time. The first regional order of 500 Big Gulp cups sold out in a week, eventually forcing automakers to make cupholders bigger as popularity grew.