› added 4 years ago

56

TIL that in arabic language, Sham means left hand side and Yemen means right hand side, hence the Arabic names of Syria and Yemen as they are on left and right of Saudi Arabia when you face east

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

j6G5E TIL the longest range gunnery hit in naval combat is 26,000 yards, shared between HMS Warspite against Giulio Cesare in July 1940 and Scharnhorst against HMS Glorious a month before.
MepV8 TIL that the Egyptians' system of taxation was based on usable land area, and you could claim a reduction in tax based on the surface area that dipped underwater when the Nile flooded.
58EB TIL New Zealand is listed as a State in the Australian constitution, and can choose to join the Australian Commonwealth if it wishes.
DQBeV TIL that our brains and faces aren't centred
G485 TIL that, although Saint Patrick is famous for ridding Ireland of snakes, there was no evidence of there being snakes in Ireland in the first placs