› added 1 year ago

62

TIL Buzz Aldrin had to fill out a customs form upon his return from the moon.

Read more space.com

via reddit.com

6v8J TIL: The sun and moon appear to be the same size because of an astonishing coincidence: the moon is 400 times smaller but 400 times closer.
9YgWX TIL How William Shakespeare’s name is spelled is unknown, even to himself. His contemporaries spelled it more than 80 different ways, including “Shappere” and “Shaxberd”. It turns out, he never used “William Shakespeare” once
J1n88 TIL that octopuses have been caught throwing things at each other in aquariums. Apparently, they're not just escape artists and clever problem solvers, they're also petty little grudge holders who chuck rocks at their annoying tank mates.
7nBP TIL Twofold Bay whalers had an agreement with a local pod of orcas known as “The Law of the Tongue”. The orcas would herd whales towards shore and block off their escape, allowing whalers to harpoon them. The tongues of the captured whales would then be cut out and thrown to the orcas as tribute.
gMbAW TIL that William Shakespeare wrote a play based on an incident in Miguel de Cervantes's 'Don Quixote'. The text is now lost, but there are two plays by later authors suspected of being reworked versions of Shakespeare's original text with the names of the characters changed