› added 1 year ago

53

TIL That the last Civil War pension was paid in 2020 to the daughter of a soldier who fought for both the Confederacy and Union.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

MVrW TIL that a 1992 study of 100 different sites in 22 states showed that when the speed limit was raised the number of accidents decreased by 6.7%. When the speed limits were lowered the number of accidents increased by 5.4%.
v1YdL TIL Earl Tupper, inventor and founder of the Tupperware Company, sold his ownership interest, bought himself an island in Costa Rica, and gave up his U.S. citizenship to avoid taxes.
MeMeV TIL the Gemini 3 was named Molly Brown in the hope that it wouldn't sink at splashdown. NASA didn't like this and asked astronaut Gus Grissom to change the name, to which he replied "how about the Titanic?". NASA relented, but this was the last time astronauts were allowed to name their capsule.
EV4W TIL The guy who bought windows2000.com happened to be named Bob and Microsoft happened to own Bob.com. They came to an agreement to trade one for the other.
9o0X TIL When Robert Knievel was in jail, his cellmates name was William “Awful” Knofel. When the the jailer went to check on them he stated “Well look who we have here, Awful Knofel and Evil Knievel.” Thus the legend of Evel Knievel was born.