› added 7 years ago

529

TIL that the Slinky was invented by accident, when a Mechanical Engineer was working to devise springs that could keep sensitive ship equipment steady at sea. After accidentally knocking some samples off a shelf, he watched in amazement as they gracefully “walked” down instead of falling.

Read more toyhalloffame.org

via reddit.com

NXdEJ TIL of Zheng Pingru, a female Chinese socialite who would join the resistance against the Japanese occupation of Shanghai during World War 2. She was executed after an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Ding Mocun, the security chief of the local Japanese collaborationist regime, who she dated.
BgWlD TIL Biplanes were still winning victories in WWII (and not just naval torpedo bombers)
Ojw6 TIL Maple syrup bottles have little handles on them because they originally came in 5lb containers that needed handles to hold, so when shrinking the bottle the handle was kept on because people associated the handle with that product.
gMDxL TIL about Belgian pie thrower Noël Godin who's pied the likes of Bill Gates and Nicolas Sarkozy. His sworn enemies are "authority, depressing laws, the return of moral order, nuclear power, and any form of political power." His pie of choice is a simple whipped cream and chocolate on a soft sponge.
R7mV9 TIL the Pharoah Akhenaten broke tradition by only allowing the worship of Aten, the sun god. The statues of other gods were destroyed and many monuments to Aten were built. After his death, Akhenaten's monuments were dismantled, his statues were destroyed, and his name excluded from lists of rulers.