› added 11 years ago

92

TIL in the 1950’s, a Texas white man named John Howard Griffin went through extensive physical changes to become a black man and traveled for six weeks on buses through the segregated south. After publishing his experiences, hostility and threats forced him to move to Mexico.

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wAA6 TIL a second is so called because it is the second divison by sixty of the hour (after the minute). Thirds (1/60 s) and Fourths (1/3600 s) were also previously used.
PeVe TIL that ‘Intergalactic’ by the Beastie Boys was based on a classical composition called “Night on Bald Mountain.”
E1wMp TIL that Porsche sells no more than two identical Porsche 911s every year
MVrW TIL that a 1992 study of 100 different sites in 22 states showed that when the speed limit was raised the number of accidents decreased by 6.7%. When the speed limits were lowered the number of accidents increased by 5.4%.
KO0Oa TIL there are plaques on the grounds of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York commemorating all of the generals who served in the Revolution. One plaque bears only a rank and a date but no name: "major general… born 1740" belonging to the traitor Benedict Arnold.