› added 2 months ago

17

TIL of the Guano Islands Act from 1856 which the US used to lay claim to 100 unpopulated islands

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

mx6kv TIL Tolkein popularised "dwarves" as the plural of "dwarf" to differentiate his fantasy dwarves from humans with dwarfism, for whom the correct plural was "dwarfs". The dwarf trope became so entrenched that "dwarves" is now widely recognised as the standard plural of "dwarf" even for humans
Xg68 TIL that in 1961, Alan Shepard was waiting for liftoff to become the first American in space, a reporter asked him what he was thinking about. He replied “The fact that every part of this ship was built by the low bidder.”
ny1b TIL that there is a list of transitional fossils that details the evolution of a species and its side branches.
PYQ5g TIL that Christopher Lee was once driving through Italy with his wife when their car had a puncture. He went for help, but fell into a ditch and got covered in mud. He reached a house and knocked on the door. The owner opened it, shrieked and fainted. They’d seen a Dracula film the night before.
epg85 TIL the inventor of the frisbee was turned into a frisbee after his death