› added 9 years ago

278

TIL that the US House of Representatives has an official mace that can be used to threaten unruly congressmen.

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rR1Me TIL when the head of Universal Studios saw a film by a young student named Steven Spielberg, he called him in for a meeting, offered him a 7-year contract and told him, "a lot of people will stick with you in success; I’ll stick with you in failure."
Xdbk TIL that ancient Athens was rocked by a political crisis when someone vandalized all of the city’s sacred penis statues.
nk1P TIL During World War I, before the traction splint was introduced, femur fractures had an 80% mortality rate. After the splint was introduced, the rate dropped to around 8%.
yQxLe TIL of a rare variation of the game of checkers named Canadian Checkers - the board is 12x12 with 144 squares (as opposed to the European standard 10x10/100 square board)
oRywA TIL the Pioneer plaque man and woman were originally intended to be shown holding hands, but Carl Sagan soon realized that an extraterrestrial might perceive them as a single creature rather than two organisms.