› added 10 months ago

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TIL that the jerrycan was invented in Nazi Germany. Jerry, also often phrased as Gerry, was used by the allies when referring to German soldiers. So jerrycan means something like “German can”.

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P8OZ TIL: The ocean garbage patches are in a region with almost no life, “an ocean desert” and we would be better off preventing more plastic from entering the ocean than trying to clean them.
eBX6 TIL that Ernest Hemingway survived through anthrax, malaria, pneumonia, dysentery, skin cancer, hepatitis, anemia, diabetes, high blood pressure, two plane crashes, a ruptured kidney, a ruptured spleen, a ruptured liver, a crushed vertebra, a fractured skull, and more.
Kpo6 TIL When Randy Johnson hit a bird with a fastball 15 years ago, PETA tried to give him a hard time about it.
R7Nk4 TIL that Anna, Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740, forced Prince Golitsyn to marry an unattractive maid. The couple had to spend their wedding night in an ice palace with icy beds, despite it being extremely cold. Eventually, the maid traded a necklace for a coat from a guard, and they survived.
v1AwB TIL that NASA unofficially relabeled the size chart of a condom-like urination device used in spacesuits because astronauts refused to use size Small. "We changed the names to Large, Gigantic, and Humongous"