l7VPK TIL that Scatman by Scatman John isn’t about a shit fetish from some disreputable guy named John, but actually about a jazz vocal style called scat singing, which uses improvised nonsense syllables.
8e5QG TIL the University of Arkansas Razorbacks (a.k.a. the Hogs) currently have a football player named Kam Shanks.
P1rxg TIL that Samuel Johnson once advised against mocking the seemingly useless inventions of the guy who rollerskated into a mirror whilst playing the violin, explaining that scientific and engineering principles were just as valid even when applied to "trifles".
ep9D6 TIL that while a kilogram is defined by a physcal object (the only object in the world that weighs exactly 1kg), a pound is legally defined as exactly 0.45359237 kilograms
X0K4k TIL of the Mishima incident. On 11/25/1970, Japanese writer Yukio Mishima and his militia entered a military base in Tokyo, took its commandant hostage, and tried to get the Japan Self-Defense Forces to restore national defense and the emperor divinity. After this failed, he committed seppuku.
OGNMa TIL A man named Merlin invented the first patented inline roller skates in the 1760's. He didn't come up with a way to stop though and crashed into a giant mirror while skating and playing the violin.
VBZw0 TIL The Longest Insect Dormancy: Yucca Moth Larvae (Lepidoptera: Prodoxidae) Metamorphose After 20, 25, and 30 Years in Diapause
wo7KY TIL a man, who was convicted of drug trafficking in 2003, was forced to forfeit lottery winnings of $5.4 million because the ticket was purchased with proceeds of that trafficking.
69KQQ TIL That one of the first solar-powered houses was built in 1948.
R5Yna TIL that the Art of War, written by Sun Tzu in 5th-century BC, came to the attention of US’ military theory leaders after US' defeat in the Vietnam War, as Viet Cong officers studied it. It is since listed on US Marine Corps Program and used as instructional material at US Military Academy.
W7axL TIL about the Sturddlefish. In 2019, scientists accidentally inseminated a sturgeon with paddlefish sperm and created living hybrids, though the two species diverged over 180 million years ago, long before most mammal species split.
nWPmW TIL Saint Nicholas (Santa) slapped a priest at the First Council of Nicea during a debate on Christian Doctrine