› added 2 days ago

TIL that there was once a device to flatten neckties for ironing them.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

x640 Today I learned that there were plans to send Big Bird into space- aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. Ultimately the muppet was too large, and the educator slot was filled by Christa McAuliffe.
Z8NVD TIL: the parasitic 'Honey' Mushroom (Armillaria mellea) is both one of the oldest and largest single organisms in the world; roots stretching 8.8 square kilometres and somewhere between 2,000 and 9,000 years old!
R5Dxj TIL that Radio City Music Hall in New York was originally intended to showcase vaudeville-style acts, but the initial opening was a disaster with singers and dancers dwarfed by the cavernous 6,200 seat hall. It then primarily became a movie theater and venue for large scale concerts and stage shows.
mxEkx TIL of Steve Flaig who was adopted as a child. At age 18 he decided to look for his birth mother. Four years later he succeeded and discovered that they were colleagues working in the same store
mx7jE TIL that a British man developed anterograde amnesia after a root canal, so he can't remember anything for longer than 90 minutes and he can't make new memories. Also, he thinks it's the day of his root canal every time he wakes up which is why he must read a detailed note every morning.