› added 8 years ago

152

TIL that ‘scumbag’ was originally a slang word for condom.

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yV8wV TIL that Dracula was heavily inspired by Henry Irving, Bram Stoker’s employer. Stoker was close friends with Irving, who was described by others as “a self-absorbed and profoundly manipulative man.”
VZZZ TIL that the reason Top 40 has specifically forty singles is because standard jukebox machines held 40 songs at that time.
oBN67 TIL the origin of the phrase “hold a candle to”. When a craftsman and their apprentice would work in the dark, and the apprentice would hold a candle so the master could see. Telling someone they can’t even hold a candle for you, let alone do the complicated job you’re doing, is insulting.
4XD55 TIL for his PhD thesis, Ilya Bobvroskiy took a helicopter to a remote Russian bear infested ravine, rappelled down. Found fossils from the edicarian, & analysed cholesterol preserved in the ancient rocks. Science named his work amongst the top 10 breakthroughs of 2018.
0dNVL TIL of the Raindrop cake, a trendy Japanese dessert made of mineral water and agar, and therefore has no calories. The largely tasteless dessert melts when it enters the mouth and must be eaten immediately, or it will melt and begin to evaporate after twenty minutes.