› added 9 years ago

186

TIL that the US wanted to switch completely to the metric system and is still going slowly towards it

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

wLB17 TIL Linseed oil soaked rags can spontaneously combust during the natural evaporation of the oil. Linseed oil (and tung oil), common products used to preserve wood in homes and restaurants, pose a fire hazard.
X1Qr TIL Twenty years ago 29,000 rubber ducks fell overboard and they still float around the seas.
GY1J4 TIL that the very first western film to play on North Korean state TV was Bend It Like Beckham in order to celebrate a decade of diplomatic ties to the UK
pKJb TIL Detroit once had a tourist attraction more popular than the Statue of Liberty. The Ford Rotunda was built for the 1934 World’s Fair and was the fifth most visited site in the U.S. before burning to the ground in 1962
4N1X TIL From 1995-2000 a man stole the pieces to the top winning prizes from McDonald’s Monopoly and gave them to associates which claimed and shared the prizes totaling over $24M. One year he sent the $1M piece to a Children’s Hospital, although against the rules, McDonald’s honored the prize.