› added 5 years ago

77

TIL Joshua Trees are in the same taxonomic family as Asparagus and are therefore related

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PAJO TIL the reason the Gamecube and Wii cannot play standard DVD discs is because the consoles spin the media at a constant angular velocity (the disc spins at the same speed regardless of the laser’s position) versus a constant linear velocity as with standard drives/players.
WPXA TIL When Salmon P. Chase served as Secretary of the Treasury under Lincoln, he put his own face on the $1 bill so people would recognize him and further his political career.
mxjwE TIL that after Mao Zhedong promised China's steel production would one day surpass England's and America's, many children born in 1958 and 1959 were named 'Chaoying' ('Surpass England') or 'Chaomei' ('Overtake America').
lbV7 TIL that the first Olympic disqualification for drug use was against a Swedish pentathlete who drank two beers before his shooting event to calm his nerves.
VrD4 TIL in 2004, GirlsGoneWild founder Joe Francis was held at gunpoint in his home by a man who demanded $500,000 whilst videotaping him and making him say “I’m from Boys Gone Wild, and I like it up the ass.”