› added 5 years ago

164

TIL the US Senate used the same gavel for 165 years until Richard Nixon shattered it...

Read more senate.gov

via reddit.com

8evAa TIL that not only does the Mediterranean Sea have Great White sharks, but that historically they were some of the biggest every caught.
rNaPo TIL that West Virginia's split from Virginia was controversial. Instead of joining the civil war, citizens met to form WV. Legally a state split needs the consent of the existing government, but when the only representatives in D.C. were from WV, Lincoln decided they were Virginia's only government.
gM9wb TIL because the producers of The Lord of the Rings had difficulty finding men with horseback riding experience to play the extra soldiers, many of the "Riders of Rohan" were actually women.
kV9g TIL the original translation of “mortgage” means “death pledge”
a8kkb TIL about Skyquakes, a mysterious phenomenon where people hear loud booming noises but there is no apparent source. Theories include gas escaping the earth, meteoric sonic booms, volcanic eruptions, and you guessed it... earthquakes.