› added 6 years ago

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TIL Mt. Everest was involuntarily named after George Everest, the surveyor-general of India. Andrew Waugh hoped to honor his predessor. When Everest found out, he hated the idea because the Sherpa people couldn't pronounce his name, and it didn't translate to Hindi. Waugh did it anyway.

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yQo4v TIL no one really knew who designed the "solo jazz cup" blue and purple design that had become famous on the internet until an AMA request for the designer led to an investigative reporter in Springfield, MO discovering it was created by Gina Ekiss in 1989 as part of a design contest by the company.
KYOrE TIL Percy Spencer,the inventor of the microwave appliance received only $2 for his discovery
N7Qjb TIL That Lenin spoke English with a strong Irish accent
rRYAd TIL the British Army in WWI had widespread casualties from trench foot, caused by cold wet feet. They solved it by pairing soldiers and making them responsible for the care of the other's feet, inspecting each other and applying whale oil.
LLjV TIL that hares and rabbits are completely different species. Rabbits are smaller and can be pleasant pets, whereas hares are much larger and are far too skittish to be kept as a pet, even if kept from day 1- hence the word ‘harebrained’.