› added 11 years ago

76

TIL the Sir Isaac Newton quote “If I have seen further than others, it is only because I was standing on the shoulders of giants,” in its original context, was an insult to Robert Hooke, a short and mildly hunchbacked scientist who claimed Newton stole his work from.

Read more everything2.com

via reddit.com

8eQQb TIL that W.W. Denslow the illustrator of the original Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900), died after a drinking binge.
xKpo TIL a prize of one million dollars has been offered to anyone who can demonstrate that $7,000 audio cables are any better than ordinary cables
awDgM TIL when you flush the toilet a plume of fecal matter covers the air and everything around including the walls, shower, toothbrush, towels and the best way to prevent the toilet plume is to close the lid every flush
wLAE1 TIL about Rhode Island. The smallest US state, it was first in the union to declare independence from great Britain - on May 4, 1776. The rest of the Union would follow suit, and in turn force RI to ratify the US constitution. It was the last state to do so.
0wY8j TIL: Completed in 2007, Moscow now has a whole extra Kremlin. This one's mostly for shopping.