Sylvia Shults's Blog, page 17
July 17, 2023
Today I Learned …
The edible ink cap mushroom causes vomiting and fever if eaten within three days of drinking alcohol. For this reason, it has been used to treat recovering alcoholics. (From Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Eye-Popping Oddities)
July 10, 2023
Today I Learned …
The handheld communicator that Liam Neeson’s character, Jedi aster Qui-Gon Jinn, uses in the 1999 movie Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, is based on a Gillette Sensor Excel women’s razor. (From Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Eye-Popping Oddities)
July 3, 2023
Today I Learned …
John Hancock is buried in the Granary Burying Ground in downtown Boston, along with other famous luminaries of the Revolutionary War era. However, he may not be all there. There was a rumor, widely circulated, that on the night after Hancock was buried, grave robbers dug him up and hacked off his right hand. This totally sounds like an 18th century urban legend, but I guess if you wanted a really awesome souvenir of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, that would be at the top of the list. (And besides, it’s not like Hancock was using that hand any more…) (From 1001 Gruesome Facts, by Helen Otway)
June 26, 2023
Today I Learned …
British actor David Suchet perfected the quick, mincing walk of Agatha Christie’s fictional detective Hercule Poirot by clenching a penny coin between his butt cheeks and walking so that he didn’t drop the penny. (From Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Eye-Popping Oddities)
June 19, 2023
Today I Learned …
Vali, a grizzly bear at Budapest Zoo, Hungary, came to the rescue when it saw a crow drowning in the pond in the bears’ enclosure. The bear reached into the water, gently pulled the bird out with its mouth and left it poolside to recover. (From Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Eye-Popping Oddities)
June 12, 2023
Today I Learned …
Marine iguanas sneeze more than any other animal — as a way to expel excess salt and keep them from becoming dehydrated. As they eat food that’s been soaked in saltwater, salt builds up in their bloodstream. Most of this salt collects in a special gland above the iguana’s eyes, where the animal can sneeze it out. The spray often falls back onto the iguana’s head, where it evaporates, leaving a crust that looks like a white wig. (From Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Eye-Popping Oddities)
June 5, 2023
Today I Learned …
A giant squid’s food passes through its brain before it reaches its stomach. As a result, it has to eat small morsels because anything too large might get caught in its brain and cause brain damage. (From Ripley’s Believe It or Not: Eye-Popping Oddities)
May 29, 2023
Today I Learned …
Plesiosaurs, a long-extinct marine reptile, suffered from the bends. This sickness, caused by nitrogen gas bubbling out of the animal’s bloodstream, caused pits and erosions to form on the plesiosaurs’ snout and rib bones.
May 22, 2023
Today I Learned …
When you’re thinking about getting your freak on, be glad you’re not a giraffe. In order to determine the best time to mate, a male giraffe will continuously head-butt the female in the bladder until she urinates. Then he tastes the pee and determines whether or not the female is ovulating.
May 15, 2023
Today I Learned …
Urine from male cape water buffaloes is so flammable that some tribes use it for lantern fuel. (From 1001 Gruesome Facts, by Helen Otway)
