› added 5 years ago

139

TIL the worst record in MLB history belongs to the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, for losses (134) and winning percentage (.130). They were so bad that opponents refused to visit their park, forcing Cleveland to play 112 of 154 games on the road, leading to an impossible-to-break record of 101 road losses.

XNvj TIL that watching Home Alone is a national tradition in Poland at Christmastime. When the network owning the rights opted not to show it in 2010, there were national protests. Over 10% of the population of Poland will watch this broadcast live annually.
KYN7B TIL about the Duquesne spy ring, the largest espionage case in US history that ended in convictions, where 33 members of a nazi german espionage network were sentenced to a total of over 300 years in prison. They were lead by a man who had advised Theodore Roosevelt on big-game hunting.
OoJme TIL of the first native English teacher in Japan, Ranald MacDonald (a grandson of Comcomly), who risked death to enter Japan in 1848. One of his students was Einosuke Moriyama. Despite this, he died a poor man in Washington state. His last words were reportedly "Sayonara, my dear, sayonara..."
PYYLw TIL that woodpeckers have exceptionally long tongues that wrap around their brains.
ZpJxQ TIL: NPR history department compiled a list of 1800s American slang which includes, "Shoddyocracy" = people who got rich selling bad products, "Wake snakes" = get into trouble, "Bottom fact" = undisputed fact, and "Chicagoed" = to be beaten badly.