› added 11 years ago

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TIL NASA helped the airline industry save billions on fuel with one simple fix

Read more spinoff.nasa.gov

via reddit.com

YEY7 TIL that once the British 1881 census was compiled, officials noted an alarming rise in the number of individuals being reported as “deaf and dumb”. After enquiries were made, it transpired that many enumerators had recorded babies as being deaf and dumb simply because they could not speak.
p8o6A TIL: The term "Hat-Trick" was first coined in cricket, in 1858, to describe H.H. Stephenson's taking three wickets with three consecutive deliveries. Fans held a collection for Stephenson and presented him with a hat, bought with the proceeds. The term was used in print for the first time in 1865.
69yVY TIL that the Emperor Claudius' son Britannicus despised his older cousin Nero, persistently calling him his birth name "Ahenobarbus" despite getting renamed when Claudius adopted him as his co-heir. Shortly after Nero became emperor, he ordered Britannicus murdered with poison at a banquet.
Qxw9 TIL that a University of Minnesota study has found that while a neat and tidy working area encouraged normatively good activities like eating healthy and donating to charity, a messy work environment encouraged trying new things and increased creativity.
ne1eb TIL in 1987 when an SR-71 Blackbird lost an engine while flying Mach 3 over the Baltic Sea, four Swedish jets prevented it from getting shot down by the Soviets. The mission was declassified 30 years later, and the four Swedish pilots that protected the Blackbird were awarded the US Air Medal