› added 2 years ago

105

TIL opossums always give birth to an odd number of babies, because they have an odd number of nipples. All other mammals have typically have an even number of both.

Read more nature.discoveryplace.org

via reddit.com

1aRLP TIL that when the VCR was invented, film companies tried to make it illegal due to the possibility of recording copyrighted material, in a case which reached the Supreme Court. The head of the MPAA compared the effect of the VCR on television to that of the Boston Strangler on women.
0dkDy TIL that 8 temples of the Roman goddess Minerva (Athena) had been built in Guatemala. Starting with the first one in 1901 under orders of President Manuel Estrada Cabrera, who wanted to create and promote a Cult of Minerva, with its own feast day on his birthday.
Rj47 TIL: John Moses Browning not only designed the M1911 handgun, but also the M2 50 caliber machine gun, the BAR automatic rifle, the 1887 lever action shotgun, the Auto 5 semi-auto shotgun, the Winchester 1894 lever action rifle, and many other designs and calibers.
R76l4 TIL that The Oregon Trail (1971) is actually older than Pong (1972). It was originally developed for use by a school teacher in Minnesota as a history lesson.
m1pVx TIL that before the California Gold Rush, there was one in North Carolina in 1799! A 12-year-old named Conrad Reed found a 17-pound gold nugget while playing in a creek and used it as a doorstop for three years. When his family realized its value, they started the first gold rush in America!