› added 2 years ago

236

TIL that the British were the first to call the sport "soccer," as a shortening of "association football"

Read more smithsonianmag.com

via reddit.com

XmOr TIL there is over 400000 pounds of man-made trash and debris on the moon, including 96 bags of urine, feces, and vomit
RdP1 TIL that fetuses were observed crying in the womb for the first time in 2005
9wOVm TIL that there is an Ancient Egyptian text from around 1000 BCE titled "The Immortality of Writers," including the quote "Man decays, his corpse is dust. All his kin have perished; But a book makes him remembered through the mouth of its reciter."
vPK6B TIL that the oldest named person in history is believed to be Kushim - an accountant dealing with barley sales and living in ancient Sumer (modern day south-central Iraq) in around 3400 - 3000 BCE. At this time, writing was only used for essential record keeping.
M1xB TIL women were not the first choice as telephone operators. Prior to September 1, 1878, when a woman named Emma Nutt became the first female operator, boys were the preferred choice. It soon became apparent, however, that boys would insult, curse at, and prank the customers.