› added 8 years ago

136

TIL that Godwin’s law states that “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Hitler approaches 1”

Read more wikipedia.org

via ift.tt

p8lbZ TIL “Pop goes the Weasel” is about booze. Pop is English slang for pawning and weasel is for a suit. The Eagle was a London pub. “Up and down the city road, in and out of The Eagle, that’s the way the money goes, pop goes the weasel” means drinking until you need to pawn things to buy more booze.
rRM6M TIL of Parrondo's paradox. In Game A you lose $1 each turn you play. In Game B you count how much you have left; if an even amount you win $3 else you lose $5. Begin w/ $100. Play Game A or B & you'll lose all in 100 turns. But try Game B followed by A, then B etc & you'll win $2 every two games
mxY7R TIL Conan O'Brien had to get permission from the owners of Conan the Barbarian to use the title "Conan" for his talk show.
kyQ1 TIL in the first half of 2012 the National Guard spent $26,000,000 sponsoring NASCAR. This lead to 24,800 “prospects”, 20 “qualified candidates”, and no new guardsmen.
JYj6m TIL of a song called Prisencolinensinainciusol, a song by Italian Pop Singer Adriano Celentano - The lyrics are gibberish and meant to sound like English. This is how non-English speakers perceive English.