› added 9 years ago

132

TIL Quaker Oats was not founded by, nor has it ever had anything to do, with real Quakers.

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8aGaX TIL Pandora's Jar was called Pandora's Box due to translation error and the mistake has stuck!
J1WRv TIL that in medieval England, the "Benefit of Clergy" allowed literate individuals (proven by reading a Bible verse, often Psalm 51, the "neck verse") to be tried in more lenient ecclesiastical courts instead of harsh royal ones, effectively escaping execution for many crimes.
16BMP TIL Podocytoma, Lærum's tumour, a tumour involving Podocyte cells of the kidney is arguably the World's rarest disease. So far not a single case of this theoretical disease has yet been diagnosed (translation in comments)
kJZ0W TIL that Tom Tom Club's Tina Weymouth did not play bass on the band's studio recording of "Genius of Love". She suffered a bad hand cramp from overplaying and had to enlist the help of an assistant studio engineer, likely Kendall Stubbs from Compass Point Studios, Bahamas, where the LP was recorded.
a8wA TIL that in 1994, when the Northridge earthquake knocked out the power in LA, people contacted authorities and observatories wondering what the strange bright lights (stars) in the sky were.