› added 6 years ago

179

TIL that at a point, breathing in Delhi, India was equivalent to smoking 45 cigarettes a day.

Read more edition.cnn.com

via reddit.com

R7MvQ TIL the sky in the famous painting "The Scream" is red probably because of the worldwide effects of Krakatoa's eruption in 1883, which launched particles in the air that changed the sky color for about 5 months
GYRYG TIL that only five (5) athletes--three women and two men--have ever won a medal at both the Winter AND Summer Olympic Games. Eddie Eagan, the first to do it, is still the only athlete to win gold in both.
vAPj TIL that when Leopold Trouvelot was attempting to breed a better silkworm using Gypsy moths, several of the moths escaped from his home, and within ten years, the insect had denuded the vegetation in the neighborhood, and that’s how the Gypsy moth infestation across North-Eastern America began.
WkWg8 TIL during various historical periods, competing instrumentalists tried to produce a more "brilliant" sound, creating "pitch inflation". At the start of the 17th century, pitch levels became so high that singers had severe throat strain, and lutenists and viol players complained of snapped strings
BrVyx TIL the CEO of GM, Mary Barra, changed the workplace dress code from a complicated 10-page document to two words: "Dress appropriately."