› added 10 years ago

93

TIL that Mao ordered billions of sparrows to be killed, this exacerbated a famine that killed more 20 million people.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

v1WlD TIL that Memorial Day in the U.S. was started to honor Civil War dead, that it was originally called Decoration day, and that it's purpose was to set aside a day to put decorations on the graves of fallen soldiers. The date was chosen because it was not the date of any particular battle.
XBER TIL that the ratification of the 19th amendment, which guaranteed women the right to vote, came down to the vote of one 24-year-old Tennessee representative who, at the last minute, decided to vote in favor of the amendment due to a note his mother had written asking him to change his vote
jOMv TIL: In 1994, Guns N Roses bassist Duff McKagan decided to invest $100k of his new GNR money in local Seattle companies, including an expanding chain of coffee shops, a software company and an online book seller - Starbucks, Microsoft and Amazon.
XVoR TIL that Plan B, the emergency contraceptive, is less effective in women weighing 165 lbs or more and virtually non effective in women weighing more than 175 lbs
8oAV TIL the highest specific speed limit in the world is 150 km/h in Italy (93 mph)