› added 1 year ago

347

TIL that onions don't contain the compounds which make you cry. The act of cutting the onion breaks open its cells and allows an enzyme to interact with amino acids resulting in Syn-Propanethial-S-oxide being produced in the air.

Read more loc.gov

via reddit.com

g7E8 TIL of Major Digby Tatham-Warter, who led a bayonet charge at the Battle of Arnhem while wearing a bowler hat and carrying an umbrella. He later used his umbrella to disable an armoured car.
kO51d TIL that Saint Valentine is not only the patron saint of love, but also of beekeeping. This puts a different perspective of the common Valentine's Day phrase "Bee Mine".
D1ODg TIL in 1998 the average monetary loss of a 7-Eleven robbery was just $37.
bMdE TIL – Sharks Get Suntans but Don’t Get Skin Cancer from Sun Exposure
VMxop TIL that actor Jimmy Stewart (Philadelphia Story, It's a Wonderful Life, Rear Window) was also a Major General in the United States Air Force.