› added 6 years ago

634

TIL that peregrine falcons are the fastest animals on the planet, capable of reaching speeds around 200 MPH.

Read more allaboutbirds.org

via reddit.com

wA5P TIL the phrase “status quo” is derived from the Latin phrase “in statu quo res erant ante bellum,” meaning “in the state in which things were before the war.”
kJLV1 TIL although the Walther PPK is more known for being the gun James Bond uses ("Ian Fleming's choice of Bond's weapon directly influenced the popularity and notoriety of the PPK"), it was also the same gun that Hitler used to commit suicde
ZpwOR Today I learned that all but one country in the UN has ratified or accepted the rights articulated for children in the UNCRC treaty. The one country who hasn't is the United States.
wLLDJ TIL 11 November is Chinese Singles Day, which evolves from a day to give yourself a nice present into a commercial holiday with billions in sale
b9pxQ TIL to gaslight someone, meaning to make one think they're going crazy, comes from the movie Gaslight (1944), where a husband tried to make his wife (Ingrid Bergman) think that very thing by dimming the gas lights in house and making her think she was imagining it.