› added 4 years ago

155

TIL that 100's of years ago scribes drew colorful ¶ ("pilcrows") to mark new paragraphs. They'd leave blank spaces for the ¶'s then switch inks and add them. They would often miss some so readers evolved to interpret a blank space (indent) as the start of a new paragraph. Voila.

Okl1 TIL when reporter Jerry Mitchell went to a screening of a movie about the murder of civil rights workers in the 60s, he wondered why the suspects weren’t tried for murder. He investigated the case and discovered evidence which helped convict one of the participants for murder in 2005.
AN0Ax TIL of Sword & Planet, a subgenre of science fantasy. It doesn't necessarily feature any scientific rigor, being instead romantic tales of high adventure. This leads to anachronistic situations such as flying ships held aloft by anti-gravity technology, while ground travel is done by riding horses.
x69a0 TIL that chicken nuggets were originally known as "Chicken Crispies" by Robert C. Baker, the food scientist that invented them.
EgyA7 TIL That all people with Sephardic Jewish ancestry can apply for Puerto Rican citizenship. This is super interesting because Puerto Ricans are born with American citizenship, but the Constitution of Puerto Rico also recognizes the right to a Puerto Rican citizenship distinct from that one.
wd77 TIL The man who accused Michael Jackson of molesting his son in a 1993 lawsuit claimed his son revealed he had been molested while under anesthesia during a dental procedure he (the father) was preforming. The son was later granted a permanent restraining order against his father.