› added 9 years ago

72

TIL the first commercially successful typewriter was built by an arms manufacturer and looked like a sewing machine

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9Apm TIL the first (Russian) spacewalk encountered problems leading to reentry deep in Siberia, where the astronauts had to camp in the reentry module overnight to keep bears and wolves at bay.
7rdMx TIL that the song ‘Surfin Bird’ by The Trashmen is actually a mash up of two songs by doo-wop group The Rivingtons; ‘The Bird’s the Word’ and ‘Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow’. The Rivingtons were not originally credited on ‘Surfin Bird’.
GAePQ TIL that Obsidian receives no royalties from Fallout: New Vegas because they signed a contract with Bethesda stipulating that they would only do so if the game matched or exceeded an 85 rating on Metacritic. Fallout: New Vegas received an 84 rating.
W7VA4 TIL that 440 nuclear reactors provide 10% of the worlds total electricity.
DQorj TIL that Ancient Romans used to use urine as mouthwash. The ammonia in urine was believed to have a whitening effect on teeth.