› added 3 years ago

230

TIL Taras Shevchenko was born a serf in 1814 occupied Ukraine, became an orphan at 12, bought his freedom with a help of a famous painter who recognized Shevchenko's talent, and rose to become the most famous Ukrainian poet and painter with unmatched cultural significance for the Ukrainian nation.

Read more encyclopediaofukraine.com

via reddit.com

XgaE TIL in 1978 a US Navy ship was attacked by an unknown species of giant squid. Nearly all of the cuts found on the ship contained remnants of sharp, curved claws found on suction cups of some squid tentacles. The claws were much larger than those of any squid that had been discovered at that time.
N7Alb TIL that some historians claim, but haven't proven conclusively, that the name “sundae” was created in response to the “Blue Laws” which said that ice cream sodas could not be sold on Sundays because they were to “frilly.”
O6w7 TIL medical doctor Donald Unger cracked the knuckles of his left hand every day for more than sixty years, but he did not crack the knuckles of his right hand. No arthritis or other ailments formed in either hand, earning him the 2009 Ig Nobel Prize in Medicine
x64M0 TIL the last officially reported lynching in the US was 1981, Michael Donald, and the last officially reported racially incited murder was 2020 of Ahmaud Arbery.
xle1 Til of Betelgeus: a massive star 450 light years away that may go supernova at any given moment and outshine the moon at night and be clearly visible during the day.