› added 12 years ago

233

TIL In the early 1970s, a schoolteacher England assigned a class science project in which his students were to find out the blood types of their parents to deduce their own blood types. Instead, 30 per cent of the students discovered their dads were not their biological fathers.

Read more canadiancrc.com

via reddit.com

YJGd TIL “You Get What You Give” by the New Radicals has been praised by Joni Mitchell, who said it “rose from the swamp of ‘McMusic’ like a flower of hope.” The Edge from U2 singled it out as the song he most wished he had written, and Ice-T cited it as one song that had grabbed him, outside of rap.
m1MJY TIL that John Elwes (1714–1789), MP for Berkshire, was an eccentric miser believed to inspire Dickens’ Scrooge. Inheriting vast wealth, he lived in rags, ate spoiled food, and would walk miles in the rain to save coach fare, amassing £500,000 (£81 million in 2021) by his death.
eOgk TIL after Hurricane Ike in 2008, Comcast customers were billed for unreturned equipment that had been destroyed by the hurricane. Customers were charged as much as $1000 for failing to return modems, DVRs, and other equipment that had been lost or destroyed.
mxyRy TIL of the Burghers of Calais. In 1346, Edward III laid siege to Calais, but agreed to spare the town if 6 wealthy residents surrendered, wearing nooses around their necks and carrying the keys to the city. Six volunteered, facing certain execution. They were spared on the advice of Queen Philippa
nevDd We’ve seen people on skateboards and motorcycles loop the loop many times. Damian Walter is the first human to do it on foot. To run it without falling, you need to reach the right speed; then, centrifugal forces will keep you locked on the track. Note how his shoulder line stays dead centre of the loop. For this particular one, Damian needed to accelerate up to 8.65 mph in the highest point to be able to gain enough inertia as to rotate his body and legs around his head fast enough, so when gravity finally wins, he’s already feet down on the track.