› added 5 years ago

238

TIL: That the 11/4/1954 is 'The most boring day in history'.

Read more gizmodo.com

via reddit.com

89ML TIL it took early “humans” 110,000 generations of using stone tools before controlling fire, another 20,000 generations until written language was invented, and only another 250 generations until we put a man on the moon.
9YRpX TIL During WW2, the US created information material for its white soldiers about to be stationed in Britain, warning them that they would have to cope with black soldiers joining them in pubs. "It might not happen at home, but the point is, we are not at home".
l7KdK TIL that some people can voluntarily contract their tensor veli palatini—a muscle near the ear and throat—which opens the eustachian tube (normally closed), making a clicking sound (same as when you swallow or yawn) which equalizes the pressure in the middle ear. This is useful for freedivers.
KOjwG TIL that the brand name Häagen-Dazs doesn't actually mean anything—it was just made up by American founder Reuben Mattus to sound Danish, though when pronounced it means roughly "garden toilet" in the language.
7rKdX TIL that when the ancient Marquesan people, who became Hawaiians, first sailed to Hawaii, they brought pigs, dogs, and chickens to eat. These fat, slow dogs that mainly ate fermented Taro root were called Poi dogs and were eaten and sometimes sacrificed and placed in ritual graves with children.