› added 4 years ago

142

TIL that the transformation of common metals into gold, a seemingly impossible goal attempted by alchemists for centuries, is now entirely possible using either a nuclear reactor or a particle accelerator. However, the process is so expensive that it is functionally useless.

DQD9p TIL the wife of John Quincy Adams traveled the dangerous trip across war-torn Europe in 1815 to reunite with John in the UK. When she died in 1852, congress adjourned for the funeral, the first time for a woman.
X0VeQ TIL that , There actually aren’t “57 varieties” of Heinz ketchup, and never were. Company founder H.J. Heinz thought his product should have a number, and he liked 57. Hint: Hit the glass bottle on the “57,” not the bottom, to get the ketchup to flow
BKZK TIL that scientists have genetically altered chickens to express DNA that their dinosaur ancestors once possessed. Eventually, they grew teeth.
R7Eyw TIL in 1879 it was estimated the Oxford English Dictionary to take 10 years for completion, but in five years they'd only reached the word "Ant". After crowdsourcing readers to help it was completed 44 years later. The publishers now estimate it would take a single person 120 years to just type it.
R6Ol TIL that pistachios are classified under the Class 4.2 of the International Maritime Dangerous Goods code: Flammable Solids (Substances Liable to Spontaneous Combustion). Fresh pistachios, if stacked under pressure, can burst into flames and cause a cargo fire.