› added 11 years ago

102

TIL that the ¼" audio plug (like on headphones) is probably the oldest electrical connector still in use. It was introduced in 1878.

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pn9b TIL that a whiskey company once gave out branding irons as part of a sales promotion, resulting in some customers inevitably requiring emergency surgery.
nWVVP TIL about Unsinkable Sam, a ship's cat who purportedly served during World War II with both the Kriegsmarine and the Royal Navy and survived the sinking of three ships. The Sinking of the Bismark, the Sinking of the HMS Cossack, and the sinking of the HMS Ark Royal.
kOEVd TIL about Semantic Satiation, where if you repeat a word or a phrase or listen to it for too long, it suddenly loses its meaning and doesn't make sense anymore.
kOM1g TIL that the organism Mycobacterium Leprae, which causes Leprosy, has never been successfully grown in a lab in non-living media. It can only be cultivated in animal specimens, specifically on armadillo feet. This makes the organism extremely difficult to study and nearly impossible to eradicate.
KlOQ TIL there is a picture of earth taken from Saturn 6,000,000,000 km away.