› added 5 years ago

93

TIL Magellan didn't circumnavigate the globe. Magellan only made it to the Philippines, where he started a battle and was killed by natives. It was one of his Captains — Juan Sebastián Elcano 1476 – 1526 — who actually completed the journey, yet historically has not received credit for his journey.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

j6Jwp TIL in 1923; Frank Hayes, A racing jockey was Racing the horse named sweet kiss, Had a fatal heart attack midway through the race and died. The horse and his body crossed the finish line. Making him the first and only racer to win a race after death.
E1OQ7 TIL Fang Xiaoru, who refused to serve the Emperor Yongle who usurped his nephew, was executed by 'waist severing' and wrote the character 'usurper' 12 times with his own blood after being cut in half.
aoeM TIL a $0.57 faulty ignition switch in General Motors cars has killed 124 people.
Wk1vL TIL during World War I, both sides used fake trees as spy posts. To make them, engineers would find a dead tree, then take sketches of it and make a detailed replica. At night, they would then would tear out the original tree and replace it with the fake.
DAAr TIL that 17th and 18th century English-speaking pirates probably talked just like any other sailors of the day. Most phrases considered ‘pirate talk’ come from a 1950s Disney movie, Treasure Island.