› added 8 years ago

1679

TIL that according to a joint study conducted by Northwestern and Princeton Universities, the United States is not a democracy, but is officially an oligarchy.

Read more bbc.com

via reddit.com

GYo9j TIL that Jedediah Smith, an explorer of the American West, survived a bear attack. The animal had smashed his ribs, torn off his scalp, and chewed one of his ears off. He calmly told a friend to sew his scalp and severed ear back on. After 10 days, he was again leading his expedition.
a8gYN TIL that only three one-letter .com domains in existence: q.com, x.com and z.com. They were registered before 1992 and grandfathered in, but ICANN banned any corporation from being able to own any of the other 23 letters one letter domains.
1al7W TIL that every year, every Finnish citizen’s taxable income is made public to provide transparency in society and resist economic inequality.
XZa6 TIL that in 1985 Soviets ended a hostage crisis within 4 weeks by castrating & killing a relative of a Hezbollah leader then sending the severed organs. A reporter later said, “This is the way the Soviets operate. They do things - they don’t talk. And this is the language the Hezbollah understand.”
eZvn TIL the oldest known socks were intended to be worn with sandals