› added 11 years ago

53

TIL that the colour orange was named after the fruit and not the other way around. Until that time the colour was referred to as yellow-red and may be why red hair got its misnomer.

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vPvg4 TIL The Netherlands gives Canada 20,000 tulips every year as a thank you for protecting the Dutch royal family in ww2
rR5G4 TIL the WWII sinking of the MV Wilhelm Gustloff resulted in more than 6 times the number of deaths suffered by the Titantic sinking, including ~5000 children
NXZOJ TIL of Captain Bligh, who traveled 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) on a 23ft (7.0m) launch with eighteen of his loyal men after mutineers took over his ship, HMS Bounty.
PYQwn TIL an alligator can go two years without feeding by burning fat reserves at the base of it's tail.
PY01J TIL that, although the character of Batman is famous today for refusing to kill anyone, his first issue featured him punching the villain into a vat of acid and declaring it "a fitting end for his kind".