› added 11 years ago

568

TIL the word ‘paparazzi’ is derived from the Italian term for a very large mosquito.

Read more theguardian.com

via reddit.com

E110w TIL of the "Kiss of Deaf," aka "Reiter's Ear-Kissing Syndrome (REKS)." It's a hearing loss syndrome caused by a direct kiss in the ear, and although it's temporary, it often causes permanent partial hearing loss.
1a9YW TIL in 2017, a man in Texas purchased a working Sherman tank and parked it outside his house. After sending a “sternly worded letter” and realizing that they couldn’t tow the vehicle, the local HOA began issuing parking tickets on the tank. The owner left it there for two more weeks out of spite.
b9kJZ TIL Engineers in Canada receive an Iron Ring to remind them to have humility and follow highest engineering standards. It is proudly worn on a pinky of working hand and is given in a non-public ritual authored by Rudyard Kipling
KpRB TIL Isaac Newton once tried looking at the sun in a mirror, essentially blinding himself for 3 days and experiencing afterimages for months.
4Gjw TIL that Jimmy Carter’s daughter Amy attended majority African American public schools in Washington while he was president, not private schools like the children of most other recent presidents