› added 3 years ago

59

TIL about the Seal of Solomon, a signet ring attributed to King Solomon in medieval Arabic tradition. It is the predecessor of the Star of David, and gave Solomon the power to command demons, jinn (genies) and spirits, or to speak with animals.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

OoMPX TIL that after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, thousands of hair stylists and alpaca farmers donated over 19 warehouses worth of cut hair to absorb the spilled oil.
8gKX TIL: Scientists bred extremely sexually attractive male mosquitoes whose offspring are unable to breed. So these mosquitoes will hopefully dominate the mosquito gene pool, and in a generation or two, billions of mosquito larvae will be reproductive dead-ends.
kYW7 TIL That only one victim of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, Frank Gusenberg, was still alive when police arrived on the scene. When questioned by the police about the shooting, despite reportedly having fourteen bullets in his body, his only response was “nobody shot me”.
OojK7 TIL A reason why most weddings occur in the summer dates back to the 15th Century, when most people took their yearly baths in May and didn't smell too bad a month or two later. Just to be on the safe-smelling side, brides began carrying bouquets of flowers to hide any developing body odor as well!
6oy8 TIL Herostratus burned down one of the ancient wonders of the world (Temple of Artemis) in an attempt to always be remembered. The Ephesians executed him and made it punishable by death to even mention his name.