› added 10 years ago

113

TIL: Joshua Slocum, the first man to sail single-handedly around the world, never learned to swim and considered it “useless”

Read more m.wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

N7wQ TIL that in Nordic countries, the client, not the prostitute, is guilty of the crime.
0wZ9A TIL in EVE Online, a space themed MMORPG, that the "Bloodbath of B-R5RB" was a player vs player event that had over 7500 players participating and resulted in the loss of around $330,000 USD worth of in-game content, making it the largest PvP event in any game.
neAno TIL Bartender Austin Rogers decided to go on Jeapardy on a whim. After a 12 game winning streak he became the seventh highest winning contestant on the show making $411,000 , and an internet sensation.
VML6B TIL that cats have accents. Phonetics researchers have suggested that cats and their humans develop a “pidgin language” together to communicate, which may influence regional variations in cat vocalizations.
myXy TIL that Orcas Island, famous for its resident pods of orcas, was actually named after Horcasitas, the Viceroy of Mexico, who sponsored an expedition there in 1791. Whereas the animal name “orca” originated in Ancient Rome. So “Orcas Island” is probably the most coincidental place name on Earth.