› added 8 years ago

188

TIL in the 6th century a Swedish king – to demonstrate his low opinion of the Danes – sent a small dog to Denmark and officially made it their king. Appointing dogs to rule the conquered became a tradition in Scandinavia. They were given thrones and mansions, and routinely signed paw-print decrees.

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dg7Z TIL that it was illegal in Soviet Union to not have a job
gMyRX TIL after her death, Mercy Brown's heart and liver were burned, and the ashes mixed into a tonic that was given to her sick brother to drink. Her father believed that she was a vampire and that the tonic would cure the brother of tuberculosis. It didn't; he died two months later.
d8gKK TIL about the encephalization quotient (EQ), the ratio of a species’ actual brain mass to its predicted brain mass used as a marker for intelligence. Rats have a EQ of 0.4, Chimps 2.5, Dolphins 5.3, and humans 7.0 respectively.
78JWr TIL that the U.S. Government Tried to Make It Rain by Exploding Dynamite in the Sky
8ayVV TIL that a Philo Farnsworth, inventor of the tv, was a 14-year-old when he invented it