7816X TIL In 1945 the only successful international sub to sub rescue mission was carried out by the USS Cod; who evacuated the crew of the Dutch sub O-19, who were stranded on a reef. To commemorate this a symbol was added to Cod's battle flag: the name O-19 under a martini glass.
kJ5bE TIL when the dunce cap was created by 13th century theologian John Duns Scotus, it was initially conceived as “a reverse funnel for knowledge,” and the hat remained a symbol of intelligence until the 1500s.
EgG77 TIL although it is known that George Washington bought teeth from enslaved people, there is evidence that the intended recipient was a dentist named Jean Pierre Le Mayeur who was performing tooth transplants in the area at the time
Y7ebd TIL the hair braid once worn by Chinese men wasn't Chinese in origin. The last Chinese dynasty, the Qing, was founded by the Manchus who conquered China & imposed their traditional hairstyle on all men. Non-compliance was punished with execution. The practice faded out after the dynasty fell in 1912
Bg0Ye TIL about the Wallace Line, a geographical boundary that separates Asian mammals from marsupials of the Indo-Australian Archipelago. West of this line, no marsupials exist, but they thrive on the east side. At its smallest, there is a 22 mile gap between islands, separating the two mammal groups.
rNybM TIL Matt Groening named the main members of the Simpsons family (apart from Bart) after his own family (ex. Homer Groening is Matt's father)
NXxJ6 TIL In “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991), the skull on the movie poster is actually made of naked women – Salvador Dali’s “In Voluptas Mors.”
l70ba TIL the East River (east side of Manhattan, Brookly Bridge crosses it) isn't a fork of the Hudson, but instead a tidal strait.
8e1Ob TIL Isaac Newton created the modern color wheel
P1nDZ TIL NASA engineers use Hawaiian lava fields to simulate conditions on Mars
epybg TIL Abulia, a neurological condition, results in a significant lack of willpower or initiative, often leading to severe difficulties in decision-making and diminished motivation to engage in daily activities.
VBObG TIL: The Mouse Utopia Experiment was a series of tests designed what would happen to mice if all conditions for survival were met. As populations grew, social pressure became destructive to the colony. Even though all physical needs were met, the colonies collapsed in every experiment.