› added 4 years ago

135

TIL The construction of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe was put on hold for a while after they realized that the graffiti-resistant coating was being sourced from the same company the Nazis bought their Zyklon B from

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

Y1Vd TIL that most mermaid “sightings” were most likely manatees, dugongs, or Steller’s sea cows. In fact, Christopher Columbus spotted 3 manatees near the Dominican Republic and would later write that mermaids are “not half as beautiful as they are painted.”
R7ZLQ TIL that we measure angles out of 360 degrees because the Sumerians divided the circular path of the sun in the sky into 360 degrees to track the sun's daily position, it took about 360 days for the sun to complete a full circuit across the sky. This all happened approximately 2400 BC.
Wk79X You're at the grocery store, and around the corner walks a familiar face. She looks just like someone you've met, and you try desperately to place her. Did you meet her at that cocktail party two years ago, or is she a long-lost college classmate? You walk up to her and wave, but in return, you're greeted with a blank stare.
1a4pX TIL Japan's first prime minister, Ito Hirobumi- who was a great proponent of learning from/building ties with the West- ironically began his political career as the young samurai who burnt the British Legation in Tokyo in 1863. That same year, Japanese modernizers sent Ito to study in the London.
E1lJ7 TIL Natalie Imbruglia’s 1997 hit “Torn” is a cover of a 1993 Danish song called “Burned”.