› added 10 years ago

154

TIL on April 15, (around 12 hours from this post) There will be a total lunar eclipse called the “Tetrad” where the moon will turn blood red. This has happened 8 times over the past 2000 years

Read more eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov

via reddit.com

8elAX TIL that in Germany Vick's VapoRub is sold under the name Wick VapoRub because "Vick's", when pronounced in German, sounds too similar to the vulgar word fick.
kO46g TIL Rolls-Royce only uses leather from bulls living in a climate too cold for mosquitos, because they want to avoid the upholstery having blemishes caused by pregnancies and mosquito bites.
4X1x5 TIL that "home equity loan" is a euphemism for a second mortgage. Invented in 1982/83, the term was part of a systematic effort to sell more loans and financial products.
yVv9J TIL that a Chinese zoo angered visitors by trying to pass off a hairy tibetan mastiff dog as a lion
0v7j TIL Beethoven won a sight reading piano competition by turning his sheet music upside down, playing it, then improvising on one of its themes for thirty minutes. His opponent, Daniel Steibelt, never returned to challenge him again.