› added 7 years ago

70

TIL that Wilhelm Röntgen didn't know what kind of rays he discovered in 1895, and called them X-Strahlen (X-rays, "unknown rays"). They were later named röntgen rays in a lot of languages, but stuck as X-rays in english

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

ekyb TIL that fish sticks were first sold as an intentionally bland control product while testing a more flavorful frozen food called “herring savouries” in the market. The market’s preference for the blander cod product completely took researchers by surprise.
WJWd TIL that author Terry Pratchett can no longer read.
loyZ7 TIL A female donkey was acquitted on charges of bestiality at a trial in 1750 due to witnesses attesting to her virtue and good behaviour, but her co-accused human was sentenced to death.
vN4D TIL that the Earth likely has an underground ocean between the upper and lower mantle, with as much water as all the outer oceans combined
E10wV TIL that when Canadian serial killer Wayne McGray was sentenced, he said “Just because I’m locked up in segregation doesn’t mean I can’t kill somebody”. Ten years into his sentence, he killed a cellmate.