› added 11 years ago

75

TIL that crows and ravens are ranked among the most intelligent animals on the planet. They are known to have the ability to use tools. Some crows have even invented a method of bait fishing with crumbs stolen from humans.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

jNvyN TIL Guan Pinghu was a leading player of the guqin or Chinese zither. His recording of "Stream" was included in the Voyager Golden Record, containing music from around the world, which was sent into space by NASA. It is the longest excerpt included on the disc and the only excerpt of Chinese music
BxBL TIL in 1968 a school teacher divided her class by eye color to teach them about discrimination. The kids got discriminatory pretty quickly.
Me8DK TIL that the Vice-President's wife is referred to as the "Second Lady," abbreviated as SLOTUS
v1OXR TIL that, on 16 november 1949, students in Ghent (Belgium) stormed the medieval castle, lowered the portculis and threw fruit from the walls at the police to protest a new tax on beer. The event is still commemorated yearly by the city as the greatest student prank in its history.
BrQYD TIL JRR Tolkien was a supporter of the constructed language Esperanto, believing it could help unite Europe after World War I. He also created new languages like Elvish, calling it his "secret vice", and explained that for him the purpose was aesthetic rather than pragmatic