today I learned:
- a narwhal’s horn is actually an erupted left tooth that can sense temperature, salinity, particle density, and can “feel”
- albert einstein was asked to be the president of israel. he said no.
- after dying, the victims of ancient pompeii left cavities beneath the volcanic deposits when their bodies decayed years later. when excavating, scientists filled the holes with plaster and made casts of the victims’ last moments alive.
- the oxford english dictionary was initially constructed via cited user submissions, just like wikipedia.
- coco chanel was a homophobe, an anti-semite, and a nazi collaborator. BUT HER DESIGNS ARE TOO NICE NOT TO WEAR RITE LADIES ?! (boooooo)
- a trans woman wasn’t allowed to change her gender marker to female at the DMV, so she went outside and took off her shirt. she was arrested, despite being legally known as “male”
- the full quote of “ignorance is bliss” by thomas gray is “where ignorance is bliss, tis folly to be wise”
todaywelearned 