› added 5 years ago

68

TIL that the terms "upper case" and "lower case" originated from the common layouts of drawers, called cases, used to hold movable type for letterpress printing. Capitol (or majuscule) letters were stored in the upper case; smaller (or minuscule) letters, in the lower case.

J17nB TIL that because giraffes are prey animals and have adapted to survive on less sleep, in uncomfortable positions, and to avoid becoming dinner, they often sleep two to a hammock.
Z8jPY TIL Randy West, a legendary adult film star who has starred in over 1,300 pornographic films was cast as Robert Redford's body double in "Indecent Proposal" (1993)
QBK9 TIL that after wife Mia Farrow lost $20K at the Sands, Frank Sinatra bought $50K in chips and attempted to win the money back. After failing and being denied credit, Sinatra drove a golf cart into a coffee shop where the casino manager was seated and fought with him. He never performed there again.
VBGGk TIL, that Painless Parker was a street dentist that created the Parker Dental Circus, a traveling medicine show with his dental chair on a horse-drawn wagon while a band played. The band attracted large crowds and hid the moans and cries of patients who were given whiskey or a cocaine solution.
DQVkP TIL: The Carrington Event in 1859 cause auroras so bright and far south that Rocky Mountain miners in the US woke up and started preparing breakfast because they thought it was morning. Such an event today would be catastrophic with our dependence on electricity and electronic devices.