› added 13 years ago

177

TIL Donkey Kong got the name because Miyamoto thought “donkey” meant “stupid” in English.

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8elP8 TIL the observation of the comet Kohoutek helped to support the "dirty snowball" hypothesis about the composition of comet nuclei. The comet was a disappointment to the public, however, because early projections for its brightness had been too optimistic.
mx9vY TIL 40 parakeets were released from an amusement park in Brussels in 1974, and while they shouldn't have survived (parakeets aren't indigenous in Europe) today there's more than 12,000 individuals
vYj TIL that Sherman Hemsley was a fan of progressive rock bands like Yes
5lxQ TIL that treating a cut with hydrogen peroxide doesn’t have much antiseptic effect, probably increases healing time, and can cause inflammation of surrounding tissues.
JY1oV TIL Three explorers who wanted to prove that the penguins are the missing link between birds and reptiles went in the middle of the Antarctic winter (–60C) to collect penguin eggs in 1911 and when they returned back with the eggs the museum initially refused to look at them.