› added 11 years ago

97

TIL I learned that sometimes in the United States and Hungary, the phrase “The devil is beating his wife” can be used to mean the sun is shining while it is raining out.

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neAPP TIL according to the payroll records of the French monasteries, a significant minority of the names were female. The medieval church was sexist, but women as well as men built the cathedrals.
a8d1L TIL "hole watcher" is an actual job title. Their job is to ensure the safety of people working in holes or other confined spaces are safe by ensuring proper ventilation, and rescue them if they happen to get stuck, hurt, or pass out from the lack of oxygen.
NX4YE TIL that India has a very rare river shark called the Ganges River Shark, which only has 240 individuals left in the world.
9YpRD TIL that Thabo Mbeki (former President of South Africa) refused to believe that HIV infection cause AIDS despite well-established scientific consensus. His denial resulted in 365,000 people, who could have been saved otherwise, dying prematurely.
1aj5W TIL that Dr. Seuss coined the word "nerd".