› added 8 years ago

221

TIL That JRR Tolkien had such a fascination with finland and its kalevala (an old book of poetry and songs) that he based his elvish language off of finnish principles and grammar, as well as wrote his most famous works after the kalevala’s influence on him.

Read more bbc.com

via reddit.com

Z8vvv TIL: The common phrase for the worst betrayal, "Sold Down The River," originates from the experience of slaves who were torn from family and friends, literally sold and sent south on the Mississippi to a fate worse than imaginable picking cotton.
0Mlv TIL that Pedialyte is a hangover “cure”; so much so that adult consumption is up 60% since 2012 and the company has started targeting adults on “party holidays”.
Yp7QP TIL that the Nintendo character Kirby was named after John Kirby, the legal counsel for Nintendo who helped them win their lawsuit with Universal Studios in 1982. John Kirby was gifted a sailboat Christened the “Donkey Kong” and given exclusive rights to name any boat he owned “Donkey Kong.”
BrWYL TIL when a perfume heiress disappeared in New York, her wealthy family didn’t report her missing because they worried it would bring them unwanted attention and tarnish their reputation. She still remains missing today.
R7baQ TIL That pencils never actually contained lead, people just called it that cause they thought graphite was a type of lead.