› added 9 years ago

74

TIL a new word, “Velleit”. When you really want something but your desire is just below the threshold for you to get off your ass and actually do something about it. Like, getting up and getting a beer from the fridge…aint gonna happen

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

oBxa8 TIL that Sergeant Stubby, a stray dog found during military training in 1917, served with the 102nd Infantry Regiment in WWI, saving them repeatedly due to his ability to smell mustard gas at a distance. After the war, he became a celebrity, meeting three presidents and traveling around the country.
BrEmL TIL that in 2001 Kenny Waters, a Massachusetts man who was wrongly imprisoned for 18 years for murder, was finally freed after his high-school drop-out sister went to law school to prove his innocence. However, 6 months after his release, he died in a freak accident.
m9eM TIL in 1980, a German reporter by the name of Jurgen Heinzpeter, exposed the atrocities of the South Korean government during the Gawngju Uprising. He snuck into Gwangju with the help of a local taxi driver and documented the killing of civilian protesters.
x655b TIL that Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace was actually the first film George Lucas had directed since the first Star Wars in 1977
rxbo TIL Colonial Williamsburg was restored largely with funding by John D Rockefeller Jr. The project became an obsession of his. He ultimately spent $1 billion (adj.) to create one of the largest historic sites in the USA. Jr. eventually bought a home nearby, spending several months there each year.