› added 13 years ago

374

TIL Water Bears Can Survive in Space

Read more bbc.co.uk

via reddit.com

81WP TIL that by the original definition, highly developed countries such as Switzerland and Sweden were seen as “Third World countries”
dDXjB TIL that the star Betelgeuse gets its English name due to a 13th century translation error from the Arabic ‘Yad al-Jauzā’ (Hand of Orion) because some one mistook the Arabic letter for Y (ي) for the letter for B (ب). Written as part of a word, the only difference is an extra dot on the bottom for Y.
Yp507 TIL about Aimo Koivunen, a finnish soldier overdosing on 30 pills of Meth, escaping soviet forces, skiing 400km (250 miles) and surviving on a diet of pinecones and a siberian jay.
aDm9 TIL that in 2017 the remaining JFK assassination files will be released
Jbmj TIL Hitler’s sister-in-law, Bridget Hitler, said she was responsible for Hitler’s signature mustache. She wrote in her memoirs that she could not stand his unruly mustache, so he cut it, but that in doing so, “as in most things, he went too far.”