› added 9 years ago

153

TIL The Germans answer their phone by stating their surname. No “hello”. No “bueno”. No “moshi moshi”. Just [insert last name].

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QNyV6 TIL singer-songwriter Jewel had a relationship with actor Sean Penn. He sought her out with a phone call to her father's home in Alaska after watching her television debut on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" in 1995. Jewel's father assumed it was a prank call.
x6ojo TIL the word “rooster” was introduced in the mid or late 18th century to avoid the sexual connotation of “cock”.
4xPb TIL that an amino acid found in protein rich foods called Tryptophan is converted into serotonin and can help lessen symptoms of withdrawal in addicts. Addicts can literally be aided in recovery with cold turkey.
b9JjN TIL the saying "Kill them all; let God sort them out." originates from the instructions given by a Papal representative to the crusaders just before the The Massacre at Béziers where all 20,000 citizens were killed. The original Latin instructions: Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius.
rKW1 TIL that in the 1960s there was an attempt to let humans travel via pneumatic tube (the Jetsons, Futurama, items sent in old timey office buildings) and was estimated to allow travel at 388 mph. It was scrapped due to cost.