› added 2 years ago

82

TIL Chinese Checkers was invented in Germany in 1892 under the name "Stern-Halma" as a variation of the older American game Halma. The name "Chinese checkers" originated in the United States as a marketing scheme.

Read more beatlyzer.com

via beatlyzer.com

neZYY TIL astronomers use the Pleiades as a test pattern for telescopes. The Hawaiians used it as a marker for their new year and during this time there was a celebration where all wars were stopped and harvest was done. The Japanese name for this cluster is Subaru, which means “coming together as a team"
md4R TIL that actor Rowan Atkinson, famous for his hilariously dim-witted characters like Mr. Bean and Johnny English, received his Master’s degree in electrical engineering from Oxford University prior to his acting career.
JYrmQ TIL: Mexico had a complex legal and racial caste system. Art referred to as "casta" paintings were seen as a way to "codify racial groups"
KYMx6 TIL that in 2012, German animal rights groups estimated that up to 500,000 animals were dying each year to "excessive sex practices." Later that year, Germany would criminalize bestiality.
erYn TIL that frankincense smoke is psychoactive and incense may act as a weak drug during religious ceremonies.