› added 6 years ago

73

TIL of the largest nuclear test conducted in outer space. Starfish Prime, a July 9, 1962 high-altitude nuclear test conducted by the United States was launched from Johnston Island. The resulting EMP damage shut down communications, street lights and set off burglar alarms in the Hawaiian islands.

R5Mv6 TIL your computer keyboard is 20,589 times dirtier than a toilet seat. The average office keyboard has 3,543,000 colony-forming units (CFU) of bacteria per square inch while your average toilet seat only has 172 CFU per square inch
OVj6 TIL on May 25th 1986, 6.5 million people held hands in a human chain for 15 minutes. This nationwide event, called Hands Across America, was intended to raise money to fight hunger and homelessness. The chain was 4,152 miles long from New York to California.
yQPgl TIL Until 1602, samurai were allowed to test their new swords and fighting styles by killing a random person. This was called Tsujigiri.
VBM8B TIL Comedian Henny Youngman was known for his workman attitude to the profession. Even after becoming famous Youngman would often try to perform multiple times a day, searching for ongoing events like weddings and bar mitzvahs for him to negotiate an on the spot performance.
xV8Lw TIL that the graphic designer, Milton Glaser, loved New York so much that he gave his work, the I ❤ NY logo, to the city for free, hoping it would become public property. Today, the logo has earned the New York state $30 million each year and has become a pop culture icon.