› added 4 years ago

49

TIL that Benjamin Franklin used chess as a means of learning Italian. He would play games with a friend who was also studying the language. The winner of their match assigned a task to the loser; such as making them learn some Italian grammar, which had to be performed before their next match.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

vl7r TIL Vin Diesel broke into a Theater in New York with his brother when he was 7 with the intent of vandalizing it. When they were caught, instead of calling the police, the theater’s artistic director offered them roles in an upcoming show, thus starting Diesel’s acting career.
a4XA TIL that if the Öresund sea between Sweden and Denmark freezes and a Swede walks over the ice to Denmark, Danes are allowed to hit the Swede with sticks.
b6OKE TIL that Parkinson's Disease (PD) has a unique scent. Using her heightened sense of smell, 72-year-old Joy Milne can detect PD progression even before the onset of symptoms. She has since worked with scientists to develop a skin-swab test that can detect the disease with a purported 95% accuracy.
nng7 TIL The word nigga makes up 1% of all the rap lyrics ever documented
rRW0w TIL that Abraham Lincoln was challenged to a duel in 1842. As the challenged party, he would have the right to select the weapons used. He accepted the challenge and chose broadswords "of the largest size" in order to take advantage of his superior reach.