› added 9 years ago

198

TIL that Dick is a nickname for Richard because, in Medieval times, one of the customs for coming up with a nickname was to create a rhyme or swap a letter. So Richard became Rick, which rhymes with Dick or Hick. Only Dick has stuck around as a proper name.

VMpB TIL A man named Dominic Owen Mallary always said he wanted Andrew W.K. to play during his funeral. So when he died in 2008 Andrew W.K. went to the wake, and played classical piano the entire time after paying his respects.
EGOW TIL The keys to the holiest site in Christianity are held by a Muslim family that opens the church every morning. This was meant to keep the peace between the religions and has been in place since 1187 ce.
b9eJQ TIL during the middle ages there was a legal category called "enbrotherment" that allowed two men to share living quarters, pool their resources, and effectively live as a married couple. The couple shared "one bread, one wine, one purse."
R6kw TIL a small lake in Africa killed 1,700 villagers and 3,500 livestock overnight when it suddenly released 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide, suffocating everything within 16 miles. Scientists still don’t know what triggered the event.
rRB4y TIL In a 2019 Gallup poll, Americans rated the honesty and ethics of different professions: Nurses (85%) at the top for the 18th year in a row, followed by Engineers (66%) and Medical Doctors (65%); and Car salespeople (9%) at the bottom, just under Members of Congress (12%) and Senators (13%).