› added 1 month ago

20

TIL that of all things, firefighters, wood, and snails give you cancer.

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via reddit.com

GYOJ5 TIL the term "G.I." originally stood for "galvanized iron" and eventually evolved to "government issued" during WWI. Some soldiers used it to sarcastically reference and symbolize their belief that they were simply mass-produced products of the government.
npRr TIL that when Julius Caesar had Cato the Younger removed from the Senate for going against him, many other senators left as well. When Caesar asked one why he was leaving the Senator said he’d rather be in jail with Cato than in the Senate with Caesar
OoZL4 TIL that in 2007, the hijacking of a Mauritanian flight was thwarted. Over the PA, the pilot instructed the passengers that he was about to make a bumpy landing, and they should attack the hijacker while he was off balance. He said this in French, which the gunman did not speak. The ploy succeeded.
rNObo TIL the name of the Smith & Wollensky steakhouse was created by selecting two random names from a phone book. First names for the fictional founders were the names of the actual founder's dogs.
pZBO TIL the idea that house dust is mostly composed of dead skin is a complete myth