› added 6 months ago

42

TIL that General Patton as a young officer competed in the 1912 Olympics in Pentathlon where he came in 5th, mostly because he insisted on using his own .38 service revolver for the shooting event and left such large holes in the target that it could not be determined if all of the rounds had hit.

Read more uipmworld.org

via reddit.com

wLZB1 TIL singer Tim Storms holds the world records for lowest note produced by a human and widest vocal range. He has a vocal range of 10 octaves and some of his sounds are so low they can't be perceived by the human ear.
8a75V TIL in the Beatles song Let it Be, "Mother Mary" is actually not a reference to the Virgin Mary. It instead refers to Paul's actual mother, Mary, who died when he was young. The song was inspired by a dream in which she gave him the advice "It will be all right, just let it be".
BgJ0d TIL that in 1937, seven North American beavers were released in Finland as an effort to boost the population of the Eurasian beaver (nearly hunted to extinction) before it was known that they were actually two distinct species. Today, approximately 12,000 North American beavers live in Finland.
oeML TIL a “dash” is 1/8 of a teaspoon, a “pinch” is 1/16 of a teaspoon, and a “smidgen” is 1/32 of a teaspoon.
16DBr TIL of Phryne(meaning "toad") an ancient greek escort who became obscenely rich. After Alexander the Great destroyed her native Thebes she offered to rebuild the city walls at her own expense under one stipulation: a sign on the wall reading "Destroyed by Alexander-rebuild by Phryne the courtesan"