31. Today I Learned
Irène Curie and her husband received a Nobel Prize for their discovery of artificial radioactivity, 30 years after Irène’s parents received their Nobel Prize. She died due to overexposure to radiation, also just like her parents. Her children are still alive and are also prominent scientists.
32. Today I Learned
Wood ants practice chemistry, and will synthesize an antibiotic substance using tree resin and formic acid to protect the health of their colony. It is considered to be the most advanced act of evolutionary pharmacology seen in the animal kingdom
33. Today I Learned
Today I learned that the people of Africa have more genetic diversity than the rest of the world combined
34. Today I Learned
Sudan has more pyramids than any other country on earth – even more than Egypt. There are at least 223 pyramids in the Sudanese cities of Al Kurru, Nuri, Gebel Barkal and Meroë. They are generally 20 to 30 metres high and steep sided.
35. Today I Learned
Leif Erikson was a Norse explorer from Iceland. He is thought to have been the first known European to have set foot on continental North America, approximately half a millennium before Christopher Columbus.
36. Today I Learned
A sports writer wrote a rude and snarky article about the WNBA even though he had never been to a game. He was confronted by a WNBA star who chided him and invited him to watch her play. Two years later they were married.
37. Today I Learned
The discoverer of neutron (James Chadwick) was a student of discoverer of proton (E. Rutherford) which in turn was a student of discoverer of electron (J.J. Thomson)
38. Today I Learned
Today I learned that in 1989, The Buffalo Sabres goalie had his neck sliced by another players skate, severing his carotid artery, resulting in so much blood loss that it caused eleven fans to faint, two more to have heart attacks, and three players to vomit on the ice. His life was saved by the team trainer
39. Today I Learned
Today I learned that after landing on the moon during Apollo 11, Buzz Aldrin accidentally damaged the circuit breaker that would arm the ascent engine that would get them off the moon. The astronauts activated the engine by triggering the circuit with a felt-tipped pen
40. Today I Learned
Today I learned that Eminem broke the “Fastest Rap In A #1 Single” World Record three times in a row – after having set the record with 6.46 words per second in “Rap God”, he then broke it in “Majesty” at 6.5 Wps and later broke it once again by rapping at 7.5 Wps in “Godzilla”
