› added 9 years ago

408

TIL that Salvador Dali made a painting for the prisoners at Rikers Island in NYC that hung in the prisoner dining room for 15 years, when it was moved to the prison lobby for ‘safekeeping’. In 2003, three prison guards and a warden stole the painting.

Read more nytimes.com

via reddit.com

oRRBL TIL 85% of fights end up on the ground
JY7mm TIL Any word, when repeated multiple times consecutively, loses its meaning and starts sounding weird. This is called semantic satiation. It happens because the brain ceases to recognise it as a word and breaks it down into sounds.
BryXW TIL when shooting Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth timed his shot so that the noise would be masked by the audience’s laughter. Being an actor, he knew the play Lincoln was watching by heart. Lincoln was laughing when shot.
D15ZP TIL that 10-35% of people share the same genetic trait that makes us having to sneeze when looking towards the sun
nEvY TIL that humans have explored 5%-7% of the ocean floor and less than 1% of the ocean itself. Oceans cover 70% of the earth’s surface: over 60% of the planet has never been seen by humans.