› added 6 years ago

272

TIL in 1964, a bristlecone pine was killed after a graduate research student accidentally got his tree core stuck in it's trunk. The tree was cut down to retrieve the core only to find out it was the oldest known living organism known at that time. It was estimated to be over 5,000 years old.

Read more uanews.arizona.edu

via reddit.com

Egg6P TIL the Hindenburg was actually one of TWO blimps that crashed in Lakehurst, NJ. The other was the promotional blimp for Jordache jeans.
LaA0 TIL the techniques employed by clickbait authors are derivative of the “yellow journalism” rampant in US newspapers in the late 19th century, which attempted to increase circulation by relying on eye-catching headlines that included exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, or sensationalism
jN65X TIL that “cat got your tongue” originates from Ancient Egypt where they cut the tongue for punishing blasphemy and fed to cats
YQvB TIL Dissociative Identity Disorder (or split personalities) can be so extreme that one personality can show severe allergic to a substance and the other one will not show any reaction at all.
j6Pxp TIL the borough of Queens in New York City is considered the most linguistically diverse place on Earth with about 138 languages being spoken in the borough and 56% of residents speaking a language other than English at home.