› added 1 year ago

80

TIL thanks to tree rings, we know global cooling caused piracy.

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oBWGr TIL of ablaut reduplication, an unwritten English rule that makes "tick-tock" sound normal, but not "tock-tick". When repeating words, the first vowel is always an I, then A or O. "Chit chat" not "chat chit"; "ping pong" not "pong ping", etc. It's unclear why this rule exists, but it's never broken
d8ZVZ TIL that a 'perfectly' measured dose of chloroform soaked in a rag would take around 5 minutes to knock a person out, rather than almost immediately.
LkeRd TIL the famous horror genre actor Vincent Price is a direct descendant of Peregrine White, the first white child born in Colonial Massachusetts.
odWA TIL when Sally Ride was preparing to launch as the first US woman in space in 1983, reporters asked questions like “Do you cry when things go wrong on the job?” and “Will the flight affect your reproductive organs?”
p1OZ TIL John Dillinger escaped prison by brandishing a wooden pistol. The FBI also used way more money to catch him then he ever stole.