› added 8 years ago

158

TIL that solid iron cannonballs kept underwater for a long time can explode once they reach the surface- [gas bubbles are trapped underwater at enormous pressure- once at surface, pressure is no longer equalized from within and without- ergo explosion potential]

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7vGM TIL that the original rules for basketball did not include dribbling; the ball could only be advanced by passing. Players eventually learned to “pass to themselves.” This was accepted as legal and eventually developed into dribbling.
oBLAo TIL Speculoos are spiced gingerbread shortcrust cookies that are traditionally made and eaten on St. Nicholas Day and throughout the Christmas holiday season. They’re traditionally embossed with designs using wooden molds, special rolling pins, or cookie stamps.
rNEgM TIL in the 1960s, General Electric designed a portable astronaut escape pod made out of a plastic bag called MOOSE ("Man Out Of Space Easiest"). An astronaut would reenter Earth's atmosphere in a giant, foam-filled plastic bag
Y7pAr TIL A Canadian makeup developer helped Crayola create "Colors of the World" crayons that are meant to accurately reflect human skin tones. He pared down the 40 shades he had created for Cover FX to 24 distinct colors that kids can use to draw themselves
QNgDp TIL that during WWII workers at the Henry Ford aircraft factory Willow Run built a staggering 8,685 B-24 bombers in three years. No one had ever manufactured airplanes on such a scale before. At its peak in 1944, it produced a B-24 every hour.