› added 9 months ago

71

TIL that Nguyen is the last name of 40% of all Vietnamese.

Read more atlasobscura.com

via reddit.com

mL1E TIL A Frenchwoman, Jeanne de Clisson, became a pirate in the 1300’s for revenge after her husband was beheaded. Selling her lands to buy 3 ships, they were painted black with red sails. Hunting French ships, when she caught nobles, she personally beheaded them with an axe.
pYNkQ TIL Victoria Coren Mitchell Is a Homewrecker (Fiona Duff and Harry Thompson)
5VGDQ TIL The old cowboy song "Don't Fence Me In" was based on text by Robert Fletcher, a poet and engineer with the Department of Highways in Helena, Montana. It was 'songified' by Cole Porter, who bought the poem from Fletcher for $250.
EgbBV TIL that up until at least 2001, cattle that died in the Austrian Alps was blown up rather than hauled away via helicopter
R7JMa TIL there is a color coded weather beacon atop the Gulf Tower, one glance at night will tell you wind speeds, temps, humidity, etc.