› added 9 years ago

282

TIL that a man in Russia is facing 1 year in jail for posting “god doesn’t exist” in a online chat

Read more theguardian.com

via reddit.com

p8rw4 TIL that the tongue twister “She sells seashells by the seashore” is based on the life of Mary Anning. Mary and her brother learned to find, identify and sell fossils in an effort to support their family after their father died.
XKxE TIL that a Russian man who tried to rob a hair salon ended up as the victim when the female shop owner overpowered him, tied him up naked and then used him as a sex slave for 3 days.
epQbn TIL the USA doesn't use the metric system because in 1793, literal Pirates of the Caribbean looted the ship carrying the "official kilogram" and it never reached its intended destination (the US gov't).
D1AeY TIL That Americans are annoyed so much by "Start/Stop" car technology that most Americans will disable the system upon engine start, and that if a car comes with the technology the EPA automatically assumes that 50% of buyers will disable the system when calculating fuel mileage.
QNj7d TIL that James Joyce and Ernest Hemingway were drinking buddies in 1920s Paris. Joyce, who was small, weak, and had poor eyesight, had a habit of picking fights and then hide behind Hemingway, shouting, “Deal with him, Hemingway! Deal with him!”