› added 7 years ago

65

TIL the name Vanessa was invented by Anglo-Irish writer Jonathan Swift for Esther Vanhomrigh, whom he tutored. The name was created by taking "Van" from Vanhomrigh and "Essa" from a pet form of Esther.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

e0kZ5 TIL about Dr. Carlo Urbani who first identified the SARS coronavirus, is credited with triggering the rapid response that helped bring the outbreak to an end, and lost his own life to the virus just one month later.
eRYL TIL The first postage stamp to depict a nude woman was printed in Spain in 1930, in commemoration of Goya’s painting ‘La maja desnuda’ (the nude maja). In the same year, the United States government barred and returned any mail bearing the stamps.
xVLND TIL according to an autopsy report an Alabama minister who died of “accidental mechanical asphyxia” in his home, was found hogtied, wearing two complete wet suits, including a face mask, diving gloves and slippers, rubberized underwear, a head mask, and had a dildo in his anus covered with a condom
0wEZL TIL that the guillotine had numerous nicknames. Some of these nicknames include "The National Razor", "Charlot's Rocking Chair," and "The Goncourt Prize for Murderers".
ablb TIL that after the US defeated favored France for the rugby gold medal at the 1924 Paris Olympics, French fans invaded the field. Police and French players defended the Americans from the crowd. Boos and hisses interrupted the US national anthem at the medal ceremony.