› added 12 years ago

616

TIL that Whale vomit is worth tens of thousands of pounds and is used in the productionof perfume

Read more bbc.co.uk

via reddit.com

QJ8Gp TIL portobello mushrooms are just grown-up versions of the common and smaller white/brown mushrooms
OoOxa TIL Van Gogh's The Starry Night actually includes the planet Venus in the night sky depiction
9wEa7 TIL rate of change in speed is "acceleration", but rate of change for acceleration is called a "jerk"
xVr60 TIL that a topless, laid-back statue of Abraham Lincoln stands at a federal court in Los Angeles; sculptor James Lee Hansen explained in 1941 that "from a sculpturing standpoint, it’s better to show the body without any clothes, [so] that’s why I left ’em off"
8eb0a TIL the First Battery-Powered Electric Motor was Invented in 1834 By Thomas and Emily Davenport. In 1837, they Patented a Machine to Run a Printing Press. In 1840, "The Electro-Magnetic and Mechanics Intelligencer,' the First Magazine ever Printed using Electricity.