› added 11 years ago

343

TIL “House of the Rising Sun,” the song made famous by The Animals in 1964, is actually an old Appalachian folk tune.

Read more youtube.com

via reddit.com

b9vep TIL the first recorded battle in history was the Battle of Megiddo in 1457 BC. It left such an impression on the Levantine people there that they believed the final battle of humanity would take place there as well. That's where the word Armageddon comes from.
DYoY TIL Its not actually true that the US space program spent millions on developing a pen that worked in space, whereas the Russians just used a pencil. They both used pencils at first, but the shavings and chipped graphite floating around were harmful to the astronauts and computers
WKj9 TIL in an effort to one-up the Soviets during the late 1950s, the United States planned to hit the moon with a nuclear warhead-tipped ICBM. In the Air Force’s infinite wisdom, however, the plan was scrapped because they felt the public would respond unfavorably to nuking the moon.
w8EM TIL the first version of The Game of Life featured a suicide square.
d8k1Z TIL a golden chamber with ultra-sensitive lightbulbs is buried under a mountain in Japan and contains water so pure that it can be corrosive and dissolve metal- and it's helping scientists detect neutrinos from dying stars.