› added 8 years ago

149

TIL that Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” is why we say “Merry Christmas” today. The phrase had been around before, but when the book was an instant hit in 1843 it popularized it right at a time when Christmas began to establish as an annual tradition again, so the phrase stuck.

Read more phrases.org.uk

via reddit.com

LQgOp TIL about the Mongolian "Dzud" of 2009-2010 that killed 22% of their livestock and doubled the price of meat.
wZxY TIL that 12 African nations have come together pledging to build a 9 mile wide band of trees that will stretch all the way across Africa, 4750 miles, in order to stop the progressive advancement of the Sahara.
DBDP TIL there is such a thing as one-way bulletproof glass. This allows you to return fire through the glass while still keeping you protected from the attacker (your shot leaves a bullet-sized hole, but doesn’t compromise the rest of the shield).
1aoND TIL that HIV/AIDS used to be called "the 4H disease" by the CDC since it seemed to affect mostly Homosexuals, Haitians, Heroin users, and hemophiliacs. The disease was also called GRID by the media, which stood for gay- related immune deficiency.
BgJne TIL about the OODA loop - a process created by a US Airforce Pilot instructing one to - Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. He applied the concept to combat operations, but its since been expanded to many areas of life, including commercial operations and even parenting