l7GaV TIL that astrophysicist Stephen Hawking once hosted a party but nobody showed up because he sent the invitations for the party only the day after, thus basically proving by experiment that time travel is not possible.
8e0m4 Today I learned the first selfie ever taken was in 1839!
P1kmV TIL when Polish javelin star Maria Andrejczyk found out about an 8 month old that needed life saving surgery, she auctioned off her Olympic silver medal to help raise some of the needed funds. A Polish store chain won it and instead of collecting the medal, they promptly announced she could keep it.
epMr5 TIL about Patum Peperium, a Gentleman's Relish made and sold in Britain since 1828, which has a secret recipe, known to only one employee.
VBG44 TIL the Forest Preserves of Cook County (est. 1914) holds more than 70,000 acres of land making it the oldest and largest preserve system of its kind in the United States.
X0G9j TIL Bob Moore, founder of Bob’s Red Mill, refused to sell to corporations, citing the Bible: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Instead, he gave his $100M company to his 700 employees via an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). The company now sells in over 70 countries.
OGEb7 TIL that The Apollo 11 astronauts couldn’t get life insurance before their mission, so they came up with a brilliant hack: they signed hundreds of autographs. These "insurance autographs" were given to their families, who could sell them if the mission ended in tragedy.
690pm TIL while on safari, Hemingway survived 2 plane crashes one day apart. The 2nd caught fire & he had to smash open the door with his head, causing extensive burns & skeletal injuries. He was presumed dead until he walked out of the jungle "in high spirits", carrying bananas and a bottle of gin.
wo6M6 TIL bees will leave the hive with all their honey (abscond) if they (for various reasons) feel uncomfortable with their living situation, even if it means certain death from being exposed to the elements.
R5Zm9 TIL that a small percentage (1-2%) of honeybees in a given colony will specialize as undertakers; they function to prevent disease by removing corpses from the hive
W7G5d TIL about the Mad Gasser of Mattoon, an urban myth from Mattoon Illinois, now thought to be a small 33-person mass hysteria
9w0g7 TIL The United States does not have an official language