› added 8 years ago

105

TIL of the Queen’s Champion. During the coronation banquet, the Champion would ride into Westminster Hall in full armor and await any challenger to the throne. The current Queen’s Champion is a chartered accountant.

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rN9wx TIL that Bamboo is a Grass, not a Tree
R7Mrw TIL about Police Constable Steve Hutton, who, on 2 separate occasions, barked at fleeing criminals to trick them into thinking he had a police dog with him. It worked.
b91mQ TIL roller coasters use three sets of wheels to keep the trains on the track. Running wheels which are on top of the rails, side friction wheels which are on the side of the rails, and up-stop wheels which are under the rails. This is why inversions and negative-g moments are possible.
69ol8 TIL about the Uncensored Library in Minecraft, created by Reporters Without Borders to combat censorship. This virtual library gives users access to banned or censored articles and information from around the world, featuring works from journalists who have been censored in their home countries.
bBMZ TIL that a number far larger than a googol and googolplex exists. Graham’s number is so large that the observable universe is far too small to contain a digital representation of the number, assuming one Planck volume per digit.