› added 8 years ago

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TIL that when humans domesticated wolves, we basically bred Williams syndrome into dogs, which is characterized by "cognitive difficulties and a tendency to love everyone"

Read more news.nationalgeographic.com

via reddit.com

VMJoZ TIL that if an acronym is said letter by letter, like FBI or ATM, it is called an initialism. To be a true acronym all of the letters must be said as a word, some examples are NATO, NASA and POTUS.
D1PDP TIL first roller coaster started to transport coal down a hill. But, after people found that it could reach speeds up to 50 miles per hour, tourists asked to ride on it for a few cents.
ANxXB TIL: Eugene Bullard (1895–1961) was the first Black combat pilot, serving in the French Air Service during WWI. An American expatriate, he later became a jazz musician, boxer, and club owner in Paris after escaping Jim Crowe. He used his status in Parisian high society to spy on the Nazis.
RD17 TIL: Australia uses giant stop signs projected on sheets of water to prevent tunnel crashes [x-post from r/cars]
m1Mjy TIL that in 1915, when Cecil Chubb spent £6,600 to purchase Stonehenge, his wife was NOT happy - because she had actually sent him out to buy a dining room set. Chubb eventually gifted Stonehenge to the English people about three year later.