› added 10 years ago

430

TIL that spiders tune each strand of their web to a specific frequency by making some strans tighter than others so that when something is caught in it, the spider can easily pinpoint where it is. This is also used for determining whether what cause the sound is a food or a potential mate.

Read more npr.org

via reddit.com

LaA0 TIL the techniques employed by clickbait authors are derivative of the “yellow journalism” rampant in US newspapers in the late 19th century, which attempted to increase circulation by relying on eye-catching headlines that included exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, or sensationalism
5Wwn TIL two Frenchmen dueled each other from hot air balloons after discovering they “shared, rather too closely, a mutual acquaintance.” When a height of roughly 900 yards was achieved, the two fired shots. The first one to fire missed and was, in turn, sent to his death in a matter of seconds.
691Ow TIL, Ohio was the birthplace of the first people to fly in a plane, the first man on the moon, and 24 astronauts
Z8y5Q TIL About franeleros, men who "protect" your parked car in Mexico, Argentina, Phillipines and Brazil in return for a "tip". If you don't tip, they smash the car. When this was made illegal, prices increased instead because the franeleros had to bribe the police.
yQl18 TIL Bill The Butcher (Gangs of NY) was head of the Bowery Boys gang who's territory was Bowery street today. Mostly made up of firefighters literally fighting other gangs to have control over putting out fires. Fights between gangs would often break out and the fires were sometimes never put out.