› added 1 month ago

6

TIL Richard Gere was given a two-decade ban from Oscars in 1993 after he criticized the Chinese government onstage

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6Exrw TIL That when people first started using the telephone they would often yell into the wrong part, and when they did get on the phone, they had to figure out what to say to start a conversation: “Ahoy” was Alexander Graham Bell’s preferred option.
wL0EW TIL There were only 3 billion humans in 1960
KOOjB Modern aircraft have two recorders– one that monitors comms, the other flight instruments. The black boxes are now orange. If the plane does crash, it's easier to find in the wreckage.
VBEPD TIL Cooperative breeding (communal raising of the young) in animals is directly linked to a greater chance of altruism (helping someone for no reward).
VBg9Z TIL that yet another Christmas tradition, the burning of the Yule log for good luck, predates European Christianity and has its roots in paganism. Yule log burning is rooted in Germanic or Scandinavian paganism and associated with winter solstice rituals