› added 4 years ago

427

TIL the Statue of Liberty was originally designed in the 1860s for Egypt. Named 'Progress Carrying the Light to Asia', French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi modelled the statue after an Egyptian woman dressed in a veil. Due to costs, the idea was rejected, and a lighthouse was erected instead.

Read more architecturaldigest.com

via reddit.com

GAROG TIL that Thanksgiving is the most popular single day for Chinese immigrants in NYC to get married, as it is generally the only day on which entire families will not be at work. Restaurants have to be booked a year in advance, with as many as 10 receptions hosted in a single day.
Wkbg9 TIL Horses can distinctively lock major joints in their legs so they can sleep while standing up. There is also buddy system to protect other horses from predators.
wLBxP TIL about Lima Syndrome, the opposite of Stockholm Syndrome. It is a situation where the captors develop sympathy for their captives.
BrOey TIL, In 1325, two Italian city-states fought over a bucket which resulted in 2,000 deaths. It started when two soldiers stole a bucket from a well from the city center. This is called The Battle of Zappolino (also known as the War of the Oaken Bucket)
PNZL TIL many Rabbis and historians now believe Abraham, the Jewish patriarch, probably never existed. Nor did Moses. The entire Exodus story as recounted in the Bible probably never occurred.