› added 11 years ago

110

TIL that in 2001, a panel of wine experts gave one of the lowest possible scores to an average-priced Bordeaux that was served in a cheap bottle. When it was served in an expensive bottle, it received one of the highest possible scores.

Read more scienceblogs.com

via reddit.com

a8xBL TIL that Thomas Dewey was so widely expected to win the 1948 Election against President Harry Truman that James Maloney, the Head of Secret Service, dispatched most of Truman's Secret Service detail to New York to prepare to guard Dewey. A few weeks after Truman won re-election, he dismissed Maloney
e0Qmb TIL that we could’ve straightened the leaning tower of Pisa... but we didn’t!
PY8Ee TIL in January 2018, Belgium and the Netherlands swapped land to change their national borders. Belgium's foreign minister noted that "the agreement shows that borders can also be exchanged peacefully."
9YEjQ TIL that Vlad the Impaler, is considered a national hero, despite him being one of the cruelest rulers in Romanian history and is the inspiration for Bram Stoker's novel Dracula
grMpA TIL Spitfire planes were "crowdfunded" in some cases in World War II. Large scale contributors were allowed to give the plane a nickname which was printed on the side. For example, ‘Dorothy of Great Britain and Empire’ was named by a group of women, all with the name 'Dorothy'.