› added 5 years ago

247

TIL that "potter's field," a term synonymous with mass graves, has a Biblical origin. It refers to an extremely clay-rich parcel of land in Jerusalem, purchased with the 30 pieces of silver which Judas returned to the chief priests. Useless for farming, the land was used to bury strangers.

Read more nytimes.com

via reddit.com

Wk8rN TIL "The Starlight Barking" is the unadapted book sequel to the original "101 Dalmatians". The dogs gain superpowers like telepathy and flight, and the Lord of the Dog Star gathers Pongo and others to escape Earth and prevent nuclear war. Also, Cruella de Vil is now obsessed with metallic plastics.
x6Dmb TIL that Walt Disney World planned to have a themed hotel, Disney Persian Resort. The project was cancelled due to the 1973 Oil Crisis. The Shah planned to fund it but shelved the plan after the events of 1978.
dyd8 TIL that a french woman was once charged 1,721,000,000,000,000 euros (£9.4qn) on her phone bill - nearly 6,000 times France’s annual economic output. When she disputed the amount, she was told nothing could be done and was offered a payment scheme.
X05AX TIL that the Gold Rush stimulated economies around the world. Farmers in Chile, Australia, and Hawaii found a huge new market for their food; British manufactured goods were in high demand; clothing and even prefabricated houses arrived from China.
DQd8P TIL about "the yips", the sudden and unexplained loss of ability to perform certain actions in experienced athletes across many sports. For example, All-Star pitcher Jon Lester began struggling to field hit balls in 2014 so he would run most of the way to 1st base and underhand throw the ball.