› added 10 years ago

110

TIL that in 1645, the French governor of Haiti imported over 1.600 prostitutes and sent them to the pirate haven of Tortuga in order to calm the pirates down a bit.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

gMjG8 TIL that the world's oceans/seas can and often do have distinct NATURAL borders (clines). Not just nebulous boundaries drawn on maps, large bodies of water can differ so greatly in substance & salinity that there can be a distinct, vivid line between even WHOLE OCEANS, e.g Pacific vs. Atlantic!
VM7kZ TIL participation in high school sports has been dropping in the last decade. Yet, participation in school sports among wealthy students is higher than ever
oaWE TIL that an eight day long riot occurred in 1922 because people were wearing “summer hats” past the socially decided date of summer
gMQDW TIL that Shark repellent like the one used in the adam west Batman TV series actually exists and was used by the US Navy in WWII.
LQ1Dm TIL that after the battle between the USS Constitution and HMS Guerriere, the captain of the Constitution, Isaac Hull, refused the sword of surrender from the captain of the Guerriere, James Richard Dacre, saying he could not accept it from a man who fought so gallantly