/f/todayilearned
TIL that somewhere between 3% and 21% of the population have a genetic variation in an olfactory receptor gene (OR6A2) that makes cilantro taste very unpleasant. Those with the variant describe the taste of cilantro as "a combination of soap and vomit" or similar to the odor emitted by stinkbugs.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by Lagavulin16_neat t3_zatfik
TIL brussels sprouts used to have a bitter taste until breeders in the 90s started to cross-pollinate different varieties in order to remove the chemicals that caused the bitterness. The result of their work has lead to brussels sprouts's recent culinary popularity.
npr.orgSubmitted by wilymon t3_zan91j
TIL a group of folks in New Guinea used to not want worms consuming the remains of their deceased loved ones and so decided to eat the bodies themselves. They removed the brain, mixed it with ferns, and cooked it in bamboo tubes. They ate everything at the funerals except the gall bladders
npr.orgSubmitted by RainManToothpicks t3_za3d8m
Submitted by iamoneeighty t3_z9lh0g
TIL Anti-Video Game Activist Jack Thompson wrote an open letter titled "A Modest Video Game Proposal" in 2005, in which he offered a $10,000 charity donation if someone made a game that allowed the players to kill video game developers. He was unaware Postal 2 already did this two years before.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by PastPriority-771 t3_z95wh2
TIL that in 1977 Bob Marley was diagnosed with melanoma under a toenail. He rejected his doctors' advice to have his toe amputated, citing his religious beliefs. The cancer subsequently spread and he died of metastatic melanoma 4 years later, at the age of 36.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by Lagavulin16_neat t3_z94iia
Submitted by chaoswoman21 t3_z88e7m
TIL Tom Seaver was named on 425 out of 430 ballots for the Baseball Hall of Fame. 3 were blank as a protest against Pete Rose being ineligible. One was sent by a writer recovering from surgery who did not notice Seaver's name and one never voted for any player in their first year of eligibility.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by trifletruffles t3_z7z0ft
Submitted by stantonstocky t3_z7hhba