› added 5 years ago

87

TIL of Ching Shih. Originally a prostitute who married a pirate, she ended up commanding a fleet of 20,000-40,000 pirates, battling the Portuguese empire, British empire, and Qing Dynasty at various stages. She married her adopted son, had two children with him and died a free woman at age 69.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

wLpV7 TIL that the Lucky Iron Fish is a fish-shaped cast iron ingot boiled in water to treat iron-deficiency anaemia developed by Canadian health workers in Cambodia in 2008. It was created to prevent villagers from rejecting treatment, as the fish is a symbol of good luck and happiness in their folklore
eYxD TIL: Scottish economist Adam Smith predicted in his book the Wealth of Nations (1776) that, if given representation in Parliament, in a century the Thirteen Colonies would control the British Empire. By 1913, the USA’s economy surpassed the entire British Empire.
NV0e TIL… When Alan Shepard was waiting for liftoff to become the first American in space, a reporter asked him what he was thinking about. He replied “The fact that every part of this ship was built by the low bidder.” [Fixed Title]
VMo14 TIL HSBC Bank was caught helping Mexican drug cartels launder millions of dollars. No one was jailed.
69mrX TIL if you have blurry vision and stare at a dim point-source light in a dark room, focusing on the irregularities in the blurry circle of light, you will see microscopic solid and liquid particulates in your eye. This is an entoptic phenomenon. (see desc)