› added 11 years ago

124

TIL that Iceland has the oldest existing parliamentary system in the world. It is over 1000 years old.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

VM4MB TIL Robert A Heinlein challenged readers' possible racial preconceptions by writing strong, sympathetic characters, only to reveal later that they are of African or other ancestry.
Drjv TIL David Ortiz once finished 3rd in the Boston mayoral race solely through write in votes
E1vbP TIL THAT Thomas Edison is responsible for the very first on-screen kiss in cinema.
J1VRB TIL that mountain Kawagarbo was never summited. The last serious attempt happened in 1991 where all 17 members of the climbing team died. There also won't be any new attempts as climbing is banned (it is a holy mountain for the Tibetan people).
epKgk TIL Robert Richards of the DuPont family abused his 3 year old daughter and after being sentenced to 8 years in prison, he was released immediately as the judge claimed that the "defendant will not fare well" in prison