› added 10 years ago

125

TIL a second is called a second because it is the second division of the hour by 60, the first being a minute.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

yQYK8 TIL the game Candyland was invented by a woman during the polio pandemic. The woman, Eleanor Abbott, was recovering in hospital she created the game to entertain the children in her hospital wing as they were left by family members for long periods of time to recover.
WkkMY TIL During his 2009 TED talk, Bill Gates opened a jar of mosquitoes saying “Malaria is spread by mosquitoes. I brought some… I’ll let them roam around. There is no reason only poor people should be infected” & waited for ~a minute before telling the audience that the bugs were malaria-free.
x6kV1 TIL that there is a virus called Sputnik which infects other viruses. When a virus called APMV infects a host, Sputnik then hijacks it and uses it as a means to replicate, damaging the APMV's own machinery in the process, while not harming the host.
R5nl7 TIL about 'Lynching Postcards,' which were photos of lynching victims produced for half a century in the United States. They continued production even after the USPS banned them from being mailed.
6ErOZ TIL Billionaire Richard Branson Made A Low Key Appearance In The Show Friends. With About 50 Seconds Of Camera Time He Played A Souvenir Seller Mundanely Serving Joey.