› added 7 years ago

71

TIL that in many countries, it is illegal to label any product Champagne unless it both comes from the Champagne region of France, and is produced under the rules of the appellation.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

A4OB TIL the term “outsider art”, which describes art by self-taught individuals who have little or no contact with the mainstream art world. Outsider art is often recognized for its childlike simplicity and unconventional ideas. In many cases the artists work is only discovered after their deaths.
b96O0 TIL the Romans had a god of poop: Sterquilinus. He was mentioned in a pilot episode of Beavis and Butthead, where his spirit rose from a port-a-potty crushed by a monster truck.
PXZL TIL in 1983 hundreds of workers broke a world record by building a 3 bdrm home in just 3 hrs. It was later sold to buyers who weren’t told about home’s origin. The home was an instant nightmare: uneven slab, burst pipes, flawed roof, mismatched paint, buckled walls, crooked doors, faulty sewer, etc.
6EBjX TIL that in addition to Deepwater Horizon, BP was also responsible for the infamous Texas Refinery explosion that killed 15 and injured 180. Both were a result of budget cuts to safety and training.
DQx7J TIL about the Varangian Guard. It was an elite military unit composed of Vikings and some Anglo-Saxons who were recruited to serve as the personal bodyguards of the Byzantine emperors. The Byzantines exclusively hired foreigners as they lacked any political allegiance.