› added 3 years ago

97

TIL thanks to an erroneous description of a US Customs flag in Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter", since the 1870s there's been a popular conspiracy theory that the USA has an official alternative flag, the "Civil Flag", with vertical stripes.

Read more crwflags.com

via reddit.com

b6vQ0 TIL that the term "Superhero" is jointly trademarked by both DC and Marvel, and any company wishing to use any variation of the term needs to get permission from both companies
9YDQm TIL that comedian Redd Foxx avoided the United States military draft for World War II by eating half of a soap bar before his physical, causing heart palpitations
P1Ybe TIL John Wayne Gacy can be linked to two other serial killer "operations" by what seems to be sheer coincidence
6E7kY TIL Henry Ford bought an area of Brazilian rainforest the size of Connecticut to build 'Fordlandia', the greatest rubber plantation known to man, where alcohol, women and football were banned. It produced almost no rubber, immediately descended into rioting and disease, and was abandoned
pMeG TIL Recycling one glass jar saves enough energy to watch TV for 3 hours