› added 5 years ago

320

TIL The National Spelling Bee titled 8 Co-Champions after running out of words in a 3.5 Hour Final. Starting with 562 Contestants, the Final Eight continued for 20 Straight Rounds of Spelling Words without any errors.

Read more theguardian.com

via reddit.com

neVjW TIL of Michel Lotito, who dissembled and consumed (among other things) 18 bicycles, 15 shopping carts, 7 TV’s and 1 Cessna aircraft. He was awarded a brass plaque by the Guinness Book of Records, which he also ate.
wM8M TIL The first mention of Muhammad in the West comes from a discussion between Byzantine Christian and Jew written shortly after Muhammad’s death in 632. It says,“He is deceiving. For do prophets come with sword and chariot?You will discover nothing true from the said prophet except human bloodshed”
1dJ7 TIL Genghis Khan would marry off a daughter to the king of an allied nation, then assign his new son-in-law to military duty in the Mongol wars, while the daughter took over the king’s rule. Most sons-in-law died in combat, allowing him to build a shield around the Mongol lands.
6o5Y TIL that NASA flew an F-106B through 1,496 thunderstorms on purpose to improve aviation lightning protection standards. It was hit by lightning 714 times.
p8QQG TIL Starfish can drop off their arms when they feel threatened. Some species can even regenerate themselves from a single arm, as long as there's a small portion of the central disk, and some also reproduce that way, simply splitting in half to become two individual starfish.