/r/todayilearned
TIL in 2010, a 16-year-old Canadian discovered that his two parents were actually not Canadian, but KGB spies living under fake names Donald and Tracey.
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TIL the human body can naturally settle into a sleep-wake cycle of up to 50 hours, when there's no day/night cycle to observe. In 1962 geologist Michel Siffre entered a darkened cave, where he planned to remain for two months tracking time assuming 1 sleep equals one day, but he was off by 2 weeks.
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TIL that in 1983, scientists created a machine that temporarily allowed people to see new colors outside of the regular color space.
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TIL: Usain Bolt's world record in the 100 meter sprint has stood for 15 years, which is longer than anyone has held the record in history.
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TIL that the rent in the German town of Fuggerei hasn't been raised in 500 years and remains 0.88 Euros for an entire year
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TIL about Klaus Barbie, a Nazi war criminal hiding in Bolivia after the war, was tricked into revealing his true identity during a fake interview by being asked a question in French, a language he wasn't supposed to understand.
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TIL the reason why old sports photos often have a blue haze is because the arenas were filled with people smoking cigarettes
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TIL some ultramarathoners get their toenails surgically removed because they don't want to contend with constantly bruised, ingrown and lost toenails.
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