› added 9 years ago

967

TIL that before she became the first animal sent into orbit Laika (a stray dog from the streets of Moscow) was taken home by a Russian scientist to play with his children. He said, “I wanted to do something nice for her; she had so little time left to live”.

Read more nbcnews.com

via reddit.com

A5gw TIL that if you hyperventilate before swimming underwater or diving, you artificially reduce the amount of CO2 in your bloodstream, preventing the body’s ‘urge to breathe’ trigger, making you blackout and rapidly drown without warning.
kvJB TIL that the insult ‘hoser’ is from the days before the Zamboni - and the losing team had to hose down the ice to smooth it out.
wLrkY TIL In 1959, nine Russian hikers died mysteriously in the Ural Mountains. Known as the "Dyatlov Pass Incident," investigators concluded that the nine died could have died of a "compelling natural force" known as infrasound-induced panic
ydRa TIL Nazi Germany had their very own nazi-themed board games for propaganda
0jXv TIL Lord Kelvin observed that a ship’s wake is always at an angle of 19.47 degrees, regardless of its speed. This claim still holds true for most situations