› added 10 years ago

167

TIL that the term ‘sniper’ came from a so called 'sharpshooter’ hunting and shooting the little, sneaky, elusive bird called the 'snipe’, Thus calling themselves 'Snipers’.

Read more m.wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

rRKLx TIL the Burke & Wills expedition of 1860, Australia’s own Lewis & Clarke. Burke, Wills and 17 others set off to cross Australia South-North, from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria, a 3250km journey one way. Both men died. Only one, an Irish soldier named John King completed the journey back.
8anja TIL that a lot of popular horror movies use an unique instrument to create creepy and eery sounds : the waterphone
GKLN TIL Howard Stern originally wanted to title his autobiography “Penis” so NY Times would have say “Howard Stern’s Penis is a best seller.”
nDeb TIL in 1913 Hitler, Stalin, Trotsky, Tito, and Freud were all living at the same time in Vienna, Austria
0wmbM TIL that to celebrate the end of winter children in Poland create a straw doll that represents Marzanna, goddess of death, winter, and nightmares; which they then set on fire and drown in a river to cleanse themselves of the harsh winter they've endured