› added 13 years ago

103

TIL the largest shipwreck fleet in the Western Hemisphere is in a river in Maryland.

Read more googlesightseeing.com

via reddit.com

nejor TIL the land the department store chain Macy's owns is worth more ($16 billion) than the company itself ($6.4 billion)
VMyWQ TIL the creator of the Rainforest Cafe chain first tested out the concept in his house. He decorated it with 45 birds, 9 fish tanks, and many plants. He even set up fake thunderstorms. His neighbors thought he was crazy.
DQBGj TIL that the inspiration behind Professor Snape in Harry Potter was a chemistry teacher John Nettleship. Nettleship at first was upset about this attribution, but later came to embrace it, even writing a book.
JYeZ1 TIL that the American Alligator once neared extinction, by the 1950s, demands for hides and hunting in SE. USA had almost wiped out the species. In 1967 they were placed on federal protection. Today they are the least concern endangered classification. Florida today has 1.3 Million Alligators
V5O0 TIL the 1990 Lexus LS400 was so ahead of its time that 5% of its sales were from rival auto manufacturers, who were in awe of it’s engineering.