› added 11 years ago

343

TIL: Alexander Selkirk, a Scottish sailor, was left stranded on a deserted island, but survived for over 4 years, partly by using feral cats to protect him from ravenous rats that attacked during the night.

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YAkx TIL of the Yaghan word “Mamihlapinatapai”; the world’s hardest to translate word which allegedly means “a look shared by two people, each wishing that the other would initiate something that they both desire but which neither wants to begin”
X0oDP TIL of an annual celebration in a town in Colorado called Frozen Dead Guy Days. It loosely celebrates the frozen body of a deceased Norwegian grandfather
rRaZW TIL that 9/11, which caused all US planes to be grounded for 3 days, was used by Climate scientists to study the affect that contrails have on the environment.
VB7KZ TIL the pretext for the eventual French invasion and conquest of Algeria was a French consul being struck on the face with a fan by the Dey of Algiers.
4Dpo TIL the final song on Pink Floyd’s album “Atomic Heart Mother” -“Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast”- features a dripping sink at the end where on original vinyl copies, the effect was cut into the vinyl’s run-off groove, causing the dripping noise to play on infinitely until the stylus was removed