› added 12 years ago

75

TIL that the longest word in the world is the protein that gives the springiness to your muscles. The name has over 189,000 letters and would take over 5 hours to read. It is also known as ‘Titin’.

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5GXB TIL that in 2001, Ed Toutant lost “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” due to an error in a question. When this was discovered, he was invited back on and ended up winning $1.86 million.
kOa7B TIL in 1992, a retiree was out searching for a lost hammer with a metal detector. During his search he found a huge cache of Roman treasure, including 15,234 coins. The British government gave him and the owner of the land £1.75 million for finding it. Later on, he also found the hammer
kO4M1 TIL The actor who was inside R2-D2 hated the guy who played C-3PO, calling him "the rudest man I've ever met."
69L8X TIL that in 1949, a NJ gas station owner started the first cheap self-serve station in the state; rival stations tried to intimidate him into closing, but when even a drive-by shooting didn't work, they got the legislature to pass a law banning self-service that is still on the books today
DYvY TIL that on this day, June 25th, 137 years ago, two Cheyenne women shoved their sewing awls into the dead George Armstrong Custer’s ears, so he would ‘hear better in the afterlife’ because he had broken his promise to Chief Stone Forehead never to fight against Native Americans again.