› added 5 years ago

405

TIL Hercules/Heracles means "the glory of Hera," Alcides is the hero's real name. He was renamed to mollify Hera when she discovered Zeus had him with another woman.

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NXQWe TIL casting away a ship carries the death sentence penalty
LknW0 TIL that the Hammer Museum in Haines, Alaska is the first museum in the world dedicated to hammers, and it boasts 1400 hammers and related tools ranging from ancient times to the industrial era. Its mission is to educate the general public about the history and use of hammers.
rN1Nd TIL that Genericide is the term for when the name of a distinctive product becomes the generic term for a general class of products (e.g. Jell-O used to describe all gelatin desserts)
N7o7J TIL in 1963, a group of Catholic schoolchildren visiting the JFK eternal flame sprinkled it with holy water, accidentally extinguishing it
j5PM TIL the first president of Zimbabwe was named President Banana