› added 10 years ago

58

TIL that the official inventor of the fire hydrant is unknown because its patent was lost in a fire.

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POMO TIL the phrases “Come and take it”, “From my cold, dead hands”, and “They shall not pass” are all derived from King Leonidas of Sparta
7rv5b TIL that Toxoplasmosis, a parasite affecting cats and mice, removes mice fear of cats. This allows the mice to be eaten by cats, thus transmitting the parasite to the cat and completing its life cycle.
pY14O TIL In 2018 over a million people in Hawaii woke up to a text message warning them of imminent inbound ballistic missiles. Despite the line indicating "This is not a drill", it was in fact sent in error.
ZpG4G TIL there used to be an award for Typography in film
4kXDN TIL John Halkin is the pseudonym of an unknown British author who wrote several horror novels in the 1980s for Hamlyn, most notably the “slimy” trilogy Slime, Slither, and Squelch.