r/todayilearned • u/mvincen95 • 1d ago

TIL that despite their name, it is biologically impossible for a centipede to be born with exactly 100 legs because a genetic quirk dictates they always have an odd number of leg pairs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centipede
16.1k Upvotes

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143

u/Jknzboy 1d ago

I blame the romans. They gave it the name centi-pede but didn’t actually bother to count them correctly first.

I mean, really, what have Romans ever done for us?? Apart from the aqueduct

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u/eagleth 1d ago

The roads are pretty nice too... But apart from that what have the Romans ever done for us?

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u/Aoi_Haru 1d ago

The sanitation.

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u/vviley 1d ago

All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?

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u/fishyronin 23h ago

They filmed a pretty good biopic about Maximus Decimus Meridius.

Will always appreciate them for deciding to record that and pass it on to the generations.

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u/JonatasA 22h ago

At least they rightly proved kid me it would never have worked in tje sequel.

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u/JonatasA 22h ago

At least they rightly proved kid me it would never have worked in the sequel.

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u/-RatPack- 1d ago

Politics 👎

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u/JonatasA 22h ago

No, those were the freaky Greeks! It's they we have to hate, not the Chinese; right father?

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u/Hepta-Water-7552 23h ago

A source of very fancy names for our space engineering projects. Not to be underestimated!

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u/gggg_man3 22h ago

Gay sex. They did a lot of that.

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u/JonatasA 22h ago

Imported from Greece

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u/h-v-smacker 18h ago

The wise Greeks invented the orgies. The inventive Romans decided to add women.

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u/One-Elderberry-488 21h ago

Self-repairing concrete.

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u/Nirast25 23h ago

wine

There's no way that's a Roman invention. Surely it pre-dates them, right?

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u/Christmas_Queef 22h ago

Correct. Wine is wayyyyyyy older than Romans. Also Romans flavored their wine with lead lol.

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u/Nirast25 22h ago

I was mostly going by the fact Dionysus is the god of wine, but I wasn't sure if he got that title later on.

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u/JonatasA 22h ago

What's the Roman equivalent?

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u/Nirast25 22h ago

Bacchus.

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u/Lyrolepis 20h ago edited 20h ago

Also possibly Liber.

Except that he was more a deity of freedom and fertility, whose portfolio did include wine and partying but also plebeian freedom, political satire, and free speech more in general - at least until he was identified with Bacchus (who was also stripped of the more complex aspects of Dyonisus) and turned into a "Woo booze!" sort of deity...

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u/Dire87 22h ago

And by today's standards ... it tasted like shit. Like everything back then. Palates were ... let's say different. And no, I don't just mean that we add way more sugar today in almost everything. Roman wine was supposedly very sour and vinegary, I think. Maybe even "mouldy" to an extent. Seen some peoply try cook "ancient recipes" on TV a few times. Very rarely did the dish turn out all that great. Well, for us, at least. I'm sure the Romans loved their wine.

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u/JonatasA 22h ago

Was that a Date pun?

 

The huns didn't have it though so I think we can misattribute it to them. Their social program included wine after all.

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u/aurishalcion 19h ago

... Wine was invented by the Romans... For orgies

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u/ButtholeConnoisseur7 23h ago

They made some pretty cool art and buildings

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u/JonatasA 22h ago

Those Vandals disagree.

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u/ButtholeConnoisseur7 22h ago

Well hey, they just wreck shit.

Those Barbarians, on the other hand

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u/vviley 19h ago

Romanes eunt domus Romani ite domum

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u/JonatasA 22h ago

Those Vandals disagree.

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u/ButtholeConnoisseur7 22h ago

I heard that the Vandals disagree

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u/Lord_Rapunzel 21h ago

Brought peace?

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u/ColorMeUnsurprised 19h ago

"Peace?" Fuck off!

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u/APiousCultist 23h ago

They eunted our domuses apparently.

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u/Jknzboy 20h ago

The people called Romans they go to the home? Write it out correctly 100 times before dawn!

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u/JonatasA 22h ago

Good dome

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u/NighthawK1911 19h ago

Lead pipes

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u/ClosetLadyGhost 1d ago

Dictate the size of spaceships

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u/siraolo 23h ago

They made the USA possible. For better or worse.