› added 6 years ago

126

TIL That when a domestic cow and an American Bison mate the offspring is called a "Beefalo"

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

W7GP8 TIL that General Patton as a young officer competed in the 1912 Olympics in Pentathlon where he came in 5th, mostly because he insisted on using his own .38 service revolver for the shooting event and left such large holes in the target that it could not be determined if all of the rounds had hit.
R70Z4 TIL that in 1916, the HMS Chester was heavily attacked. The only survivor was the 16-year old Jack Cornwell, who was still at his position waiting for orders, despite German shell shards having ripped through his chest, stomach and legs. He died 3 days later, and was awarded the Victoria Cross.
N74Re TIL that when the Malaysian Exploding Ant's head explodes during its suicide attack, it spreads a poisonous, corrosive glue that entangles and immobilizes anything nearby!
Z89XQ TIL the origin of "steal someone's thunder" is almost literal. In old plays, people had different methods of making a loud thunder sound. Playwright John Dennis invented a method, but then heard it used in someone else's play. He complained, "They stole my thunder!"
LoJr TIL that Magpies are the smallest animal proven to recognize themselves in a mirror. Human Children recognize their own reflection from 15 to 18 months, before then seeing the reflection as a “sociable playmate”