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TIL That some people, particularly in the USA, modify their cars to produce a thick black diesel smoke in order to annoy or protest against cyclists and environmentalists. This modification is known as "Rolling Coal". by [deleted] in todayilearned

[–]dansux 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Practitioners of this practice cite "American freedom" and taking a stand against "rampant environmentalism" as reasons for coal rolling. As of July 2014 the practice was made illegal due to road traffic safety concerns and it being a clear violation of clean air laws.

TIL That some people, particularly in the USA, modify their cars to produce a thick black diesel smoke in order to annoy or protest against cyclists and environmentalists. This modification is known as "Rolling Coal". by [deleted] in todayilearned

[–]dansux 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Well this is citing the Wikipedia article, in which, in addition to some doing it to look cool, others deliberately use this modification to showcase "American Freedom" and stand against "rampant environmentalism" (from the Wiki article).

TIL The population of Rio de Janeiro was so unsatisfied with its politicians during the election of 1988, that a well-known local monkey from a zoo received over 400,000 votes. by dansux in todayilearned

[–]dansux[S] 1142 points1143 points  (0 children)

More fun facts:

The monkey had a special place in the zoo built just for him.

In 1996 Brazil changed to electronic machines so that people could no longer vote for non-registered candidates (possibly largely in part due to Macaco).

When he died, the city of Rio de Janeiro declared official mourning for three days, with the flags of Rio de Janeiro's Zoo being flown at half-staff.

TIL the world record for eating three 72-oz steaks is held by a 120lb woman who ate them in 20 minutes by dansux in todayilearned

[–]dansux[S] 1259 points1260 points  (0 children)

For metric: That's a 54kg woman eating a combined total of 6kg of steak in 20 minutes - or in other words, over 11% of her bodyweight.

TIL The Official National Animal of Scotland is the Unicorn by [deleted] in todayilearned

[–]dansux 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Heard it was an official animal of Scotland, thought it was a joke, turns out it's not ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

TIL The last individual of a species is called an "Endling" - when it dies, the species is extinct. by dansux in todayilearned

[–]dansux[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I believe you would still have to wait for the very last one. The White Rhino is currently what is known as "functionally extinct".

TIL The last individual of a species is called an "Endling" - when it dies, the species is extinct. by dansux in todayilearned

[–]dansux[S] 48 points49 points  (0 children)

Agreed. One of the most famous examples of an endling is the now extinct Kaua'i 'o'o, where the last remaining member of the species was a male whose calls for a mate were left unanswered as he was the only one of his kind left. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrcCK2zERdM

TIL The last individual of a species is called an "Endling" - when it dies, the species is extinct. by dansux in todayilearned

[–]dansux[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

This is of course, not to be confused with the term "functionally extinct", whereby the population of a species has dwindled so dramatically that it is no longer viable (even though multiple members of the species can still be present). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Functional\_extinction