› added 9 years ago

229

TIL there is a whiskey boom in the state of Washington. Coupled with its more lax distilling laws, WA is very similar to Scotland with its wet, temperate climate and arable coastal locations that make for an ideal place to grow barley for whiskey.

Read more seattletimes.com

via reddit.com

R8ZQ TIL if Earth were the size of a Whopper (malt ball), the largest known star would have a diameter of about 35 miles in relative size
VM768 TIL that a coal fire has been burning in a mine in Centralia, Pennsylvania for over fifty years and that, if left uncontrolled, could burn for at least another century.
JYDPV TIL that most diapers are not biodegradable, and a single diaper takes 100 years to decompose. Each year there are enough diapers thrown away in the US alone, to fill 30 Empire State Buildings.
XE74E TIL Wrigley’s was originally a soap company that gifted baking powder with their soap. The baking powder became more popular than the soap so they switched to selling baking powder with chewing gum as a gift. The gum became more popular than the baking powder so the company switched to selling gum.
VBYX0 TIL when Christopher Columbus landed in Lisbon after his first voyage, Portuguese authorities demanded a report of his travels. Columbus refused and sent a letter full of misinformation to the king of Spain so that Portugal wouldn't get a headstart on invading the Americas if it was intercepted.