› added 6 years ago

140

TIL Iceland's median wealth per adult is 445k (in USD), nearly twice the value for the next highest country

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

WDn9 TIL: Putting candles on birthday cakes dates back to the Ancient Greeks, who often burned candles as offerings to their many gods & goddesses. It was their way to pay tribute to the Greek moon goddess, Artemis. Round cakes symbolized the moon. Candles were added to represent the reflected moonlight.
wL4M TIL that Kim Peek, the inspiration for Dustin Hoffman’s character in Rain Man, could recall the contents of over 12,000 books. His IQ was 87.
8dgG TIL The White Ship disaster, 1120, in which drowned William Adelin, the only legitimate son and heir of King Henry I of England, his half-sister Matilda, and his half-brother Richard, leading to a succession crisis and a period of civil war in England known as the Anarchy.
Zpaja TIL the Pentagon launched up to 25 unmanned, high-altitude, solar-powered, mass surveillance balloons over the US in 2019
16Rvd TIL that Kai Ryssdal, host of NPR's 'Marketplace', was a US naval aviator and Pentagon staff officer attaining the rank of Lieutenant. Afterwards, he worked at a Borders bookstore for $7/hr