› added 1 year ago

39

TIL Maria Rasputin (the daughter of Grigori Rasputin, the infamous mystic and close friend of Russia's last czar) immigrated to the U.S. and joined the cirus as a lion tamer.

Read more reei.indiana.edu

via reddit.com

p85QO TIL about Prince Rupert's Drop, also called Batavian tears, a piece of glass in a shape of a long drop which is strong enough to shatter a bullet. This piece of glass and its qualities have been known for at least 300 years.
XmpD TIL that back when NYC subways ran on tokens people would jam the slots with paper so they could suck the tokens out with their mouths. This was refered to as “Token Sucking” and some token booth attendants even tried to deter this crime by sprinkling chili powder in the slots.
J1po1 TIL In 1982 a video game called Custer's Revenge was released for the Atari 2600. Gameplay included the main character General George Custer, sporting a visible erection, attempting to find and "abuse" a native woman tied to a pole.
b9m0j TIL dogs were first domesticated in southern China, and that all modern dog breeds are the descendants of ancient Chinese wolves.
W76m4 TIL South America is the only inhabited continent in the world without monarchies. All South American countries are presidential republics except Suriname (a parliamentary republic) and French Guiana (a French overseas department).