a8bM0 TIL that in 2013, it was reported that soldiers in the German army were developing gynecomastia (man boobs) due to an exercise where they repeatedly struck their left breasts with their rifles. The repeated abrasions encouraged the formation of breast tissue.
ZpbKp TIL that a man who survived an avalanche later found that Sudoku was the only thing that would trigger his epileptic seizures, because oxygen loss had damaged the part of his brain used for visual-spatial thinking.
786lr TIL that the Great Storm of 1703 was so devastating the Church of England called it God’s punishment for the sins of the nation. It set windmills on fire from overspinning, tore the lead roof off Westminster Abbey, and wrecked so many ships that special news sheets listed the 1000s of dead.
kJbk1 TIL that scientists sequencing ancient Siberian permafrost found microbial genomes from layers 26,000 - 120,000 years old, and some were so intact that they appear to come from bacteria still alive and slowly repairing their DNA while frozen.
Eg7rX TIL that the green circle, blue square, and black diamond rating scale used in skiing was actually designed by Disney for use at their never-built ski lodge
Y7bxr TIL your eyes don't see a full rectangle like a camera. Our vision is basically an oval
BgY8D TIL ABC used to be part of NBC (then part of RCA), known as the Blue Network, until NBC was forced to split it off into its own independent network.
rNb6x TIL about the 'Jaipur Foot' an ultra low-cost prosthetic limb (~1% the cost of Western designs). The charity (BMVSS) leading this mission has distributed 697,990 units free of charge globally. It is adapted for rural use - no shoes needed, ankle flexibility, suited for agricultural work etc.
NXJZN TIL Córdoba, one of the largest and most prosperous cities in the world in AD 1000, had about the same population then as it does today (~400,000 vs 324,000)
l7b5r TIL Stove Top Stuffing became available in stores in 1972, and its success was largely due to the patented size of the breadcrumbs, which allowed them to rehydrate quickly
8eO9V TIL infamous investor Michael Burry has an MD degree and has an active licence in the state of California. He also lost his eye to cancer at the age of 2 and wears a prosthetic eye.
P1DQG TIL there is a new handmade marketplace co-op where everything is actually handmade