› added 3 years ago

69

TIL that the US Navy owns a ship named USS Chancellorsville, which is literally named after a battle that the US lost.

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DQnkg Today I Learned that even though chilies and peppers aren't related, chilies are often called "chili peppers" because of an historical error caused by Christopher Columbus mistakenly linking the "spiciness" and "heat" of native Latin American chilies to Indian pepper.
rR0xW TIL that the first custom ringtone ever made was of Van Halen's "Jump"
lo715 TIL Soap that looks like food is illegal in Europe
PY1Yg TIL that Ian Anderson, the frontman for the rock band Jethro Tull, adopted the flute after realized he would never be "as good as Eric Clapton" on the electric guitar.
D18yg TIL that the words "ton" and "tonne" refer to different units of weight. A British ton, or "gross ton" is 2,240 pounds or 1,016.047 kg. A US ton, or "net ton" is equal to 2,000 pounds or 907.1847 kg. A tonne, or "metric ton" is equal to 1,000 kg.