› added 10 years ago

76

TIL, The last reported execution for sorcery in Saudi Arabia took place…..in June 2012

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

Vm1m TIL that the earliest piece of great literature, The Epic of Gilgamesh, includes a story in which Gilgamesh is told to build a ship to save the animals of the world from a “great flood”. Nearly 2,000 years later, a similar tale with different names appeared in the Bible’s book of Genesis.
Z8OJR TIL the movie Jaws (1975) is considered the first "summer blockbuster" ever. Up until then, summer was traditionally when the worst movies were dumped into theatres.
b6mga TIL Kissinger was sent on a secret trip to China in 1971, wearing fedora and sunglasses as disguise. Landing in Pakistan first, he feigned a stomach ache, saying he needed a few days to rest, which bought him enough time to fly into Beijing undetected
xVELw TIL that everyone is actually blind in one part of their vision, and you can easily see this in action right now with a simple test. The cause is nerve fibers blocking the retina, and your brain just fills in this spot with surrounding images, so you don't normally notice it.
ZaPG TIL that Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes, is worth $450 million dollars.