› added 9 years ago

74

TIL the “soap” in soap operas comes from household cleaning companies sponsoring shows and controlling the ads that were shown

Read more skyword.com

via reddit.com

GYGdj Til about blue java bananas that can survive the harshest of weathers and taste like vanilla ice cream.
GYVk4 TIL During WWI, cotton was in high demand for the manufacture of uniforms and explosives. For bandages, doctors turned to using sphagnum moss. It can hold up to 22 times its own weight in liquid -- twice as absorptive as cotton. The moss is also antiseptic, making the surrounding environment acidic
jNK4v TIL Shrunken heads are made using only the (skin) off the head. Not the skull at all. They basically take the SKIN off the head and wrap it around a piece of wood, rock etc to keep the shape of the head.
MdbB TIL Taco Bell tried to expand into Mexico twice, but it failed both times due to Mexican consumers wanting nothin to do with their food.
l78ZB TIL that the heart of Washington DC in the mid-19th Century was a literal open sewer