› added 3 years ago

116

TIL about the "Curse of the 9th." Beethoven, Schubert, Bruckner, & Dvorak died after writing their 9th symphony, so Mahler believed the 9th symphony was destined to be a his last. Although afraid to write his 9th, he eventually did & died before being able to complete his 10th fulfilling the curse.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

4kDvX TIL in 1780 James Jackson (well known as a duelist with a fiery temper) killed Georgia governor George Wells in a duel. In 1788, he was elected governor but declined it, citing his inexperience. Instead he served as a congressman & senator before being elected the 23rd governor of Georgia in 1797.
Eg6ZP TIL that in 1984, we sent two balloons to float around the atmosphere of Venus. The two probes, Vega 1 and Vega 2, consisted of a spacecraft, a lander and a balloon explorer. After dropping the lander and balloon, Vega 1 and 2 went on to rendezvous with Halley’s Comet.
WkX9N TIL Charles Lindbergh was a noted Anti-Semite who was a spokesman for the America First committee and who resigned his commission from the Air Force after FDR spoke against him. After the Attack on Pearl Harbor, he tried to rejoin the Air Force but was banned per Roosevelt's orders.
9wN4B TIL the orbits of the planets are coplanar because during the Solar System's formation, the planets formed out of a disk of dust which surrounded the Sun. Because that disk of dust was a disk, all in a plane, all of the planets formed in a plane as well.
VMk60 TIL Mother’s Day in Germany was made an official holiday during the Nazi regime, largely to encourage women to birth children for the “Fatherland.” Gold, silver and bronze medals were even awarded to women according to the number of children they had.