Today I Learned

TIL that a Brazilian man announced he would be burying his $500,000 Bentley so he could use it in the after life. After a lot of critique about him wasting money it turned out that it was a PR stund for organ donations.

TIL in an attempt to reduce the cleaning cost, Amsterdam airport installed a pic of a fly in the urinals so guy can aim at it and avoid splashing the urine outside. It worked.

TIL Seeing eye dogs are taught to poop on command so their blind owners can know when they go. 

TIL the longest interval between the births of twins was a period of 87 days in Kilkenny, Ireland. Amy Elliot was born on June 1, and her sister Kate was born 12 weeks later on August 27.

TIL Americans waste 150,000 tons of food each day – equal to a pound per person. Study found that the healthiest Americans are the most wasteful, because of their high consumption of fruits and vegetables, which are frequently thrown out.

TIL Great white sharks do not survive in captivity due to depression and refusing to be fed by humans, leading them to die of starvation. There are currently many theories on why this is. The current record for a Great White in captivity is only 44 days.

TIL for the first Harry Potter film, some scenes were filmed twice, with the actors saying ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ for the UK version and ‘Sorcerer’s Stone’ for the US version.

TIL that after losing a son to drug-related suicide, Carroll O'Connor publicly outed his son’s dealer, and pushed for a law allowing families and employers to sue drug dealers to recover losses and costs of drug treatment

TIL that in the 1700s, Queen Caroline of Great Britain had smallpox innoculation trialled on six prisoners in return for commuting their death sentences. When this was successful, she innoculated her own children, popularising the process.

TIL that in 18th century, the King of Sweden conducted an experiment to prove that caffeine was dangerous. It used two pairs of twins, each with one twin drinking three pots of coffee and the other three pots of tea for the rest of their lives. They all outlived the king and every doctor involved.

TIL about the 100+ yr old mystery of 3 lighthouse keepers that vanished off an island in Scotland 

TIL that in cold enough temperatures, contact lenses actually will NOT freeze onto your eyeballs 

TIL that the word “nerd” was first coined by Dr. Seuss in his book If I Ran The Zoo which came out in 1950

TIL that Sam Carter a man in a coma with only a 30 per cent chance of survival, woke from his coma immediately after his wife Eva, took the doctor’s advice and started playing him his favorite song “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones.

TIL that the longest sailable straight line without hitting land is from Pakistan to Russia - 32090 km. While Earths circumference is just 40075 km.

TIL that cats have a third eyelid. Its exact function is not completely understood, but it may exist to protect the eye from injury as cats move through tall grass or capture prey.

TIL that humans are the best long-distance runners on the planet, able to beat natural running animals( horses and dogs) in marathon distance races.