› added 11 years ago

244

TIL that in Finland you are given a top hat and a sword when you get a PhD diploma.

Read more thepickledhedgehog.com

via reddit.com

QJwlM TIL that Japan converts footsteps into renewable energy in Tokyo train stations and use it to power billboards around the city, using special floor boards that turn vibration into energy.
8aZ4a TIL there is a "zip bomb" that is only 42 kilobytes when zipped, but 4.5 Petabytes when uncompressed.
dDKkd TIL about Civil War Survivor Jacob Miller. In 1863 he was shot between the eyes and with a bullet lodged in his brain he was left for dead. Jacob regained consciousness and made it to a field hospital. Jacob lived for another 54 years, dying at the age of 88 in 1917.
xVwKb TIL The Pied Piper Fairy Tale may have been inspired by an actual historical event. Inscription: “on the 26th of June ... 130 children – born in Hamelin – were led out of the town by a piper wearing multicoloured clothes. After passing the Calvary near the Koppenberg they disappeared forever."
R5LK8 TIL of "fat men's clubs," a popular phenomenon in the US from the late 1800s to early 1900s. Many of these social clubs limited their membership to men weighing over 200 lb (91 kg). These clubs declined when obesity began to be seen as a negative trait rather than associated with wealth and kindness