› added 8 months ago

95

TIL: That there is an area of the UK simply referred to as the "Black Country". It's said that the Black Country gained its name in the mid 19th century from the smoke from the many thousands of ironworks and forges. The term is used as a marketing tool to sell and promote the West Midlands.

Read more bbc.co.uk

via reddit.com

W7QoB TIL how platform like uber make our food more expensive. ( Spoiler: they take their cut too, not just delivery fee)
xJ7b TIL credit bureaus must respond to disputes within 30 calendar days of filing, or the dispute is removed from a credit report. If a dispute is filed in, say, mid-December, those 30 days include the time the office is closed for the holidays (and the backup created because of that).
9YoOD TIL Dr Livingstone ('I presume') was caught and mauled by a lion but felt only a painless dreaminess, later concluding "This peculiar state is probably produced in all animals killed by the carnivora; and if so, is a merciful provision by our benevolent Creator for lessening the pain of death."
EVn0 TIL that during the Battle of Okinawa, Around 80,000 Japanese civilians committed suicide after being convinced by the Japanese Army that they would be “Tortured, Raped, and Murdered” by the American forces after they invaded. It is known as the biggest Mass suicide in history.
neDOd TIL that Albert Baez, the father folk singer Joan Baez, while enrolled at Stanford's doctoral program in physics co-invented (with his doctoral program advisor) the X-ray reflection microscope for examination of living cells. Later in his career he helped develop the x-ray telescope.