› added 5 years ago

86

TIL that the Fahrenheit temperature scale was the only used temperature scale in the English Speaking world until the 1960s. Britain and Canada among others converted to Celsius, with the US being the exception.

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0aNy TIL post-war Germany established a Federal Agency to give rigorously non-partisan information to prospective voters and prevent any moves to re-establish a totalitarian regime. It now runs a highly respected, non-partisan ‘Who should I vote for?’ website.
DAnV TIL In 2005, a Croatian architect installed a set of large marble stairs that descends into the sea that effectively transform the entire area into a colossal musical instrument played by the motions of the winds and the sea. It is called ‘The Zadar Sea Organ’
8amOP TIL that virgin queen ants leave their existing colony to form their own in a process known as nuptial flight. In preparation for the flight, males emerge from their pupa case and are "quickly converted into single-purpose sexual missiles."
nWVl7 TIL the Arabic numerals were actually invented by the Hindus. Arabs got the credit as they invaded India, saw the usefulness of their writings, adopted it and were the ones to spread it to the world
bmkE TIL a French mountaineer found a 47-year-old treasure at Mont Blanc worth $341,300 and returned it because he “didn’t want to keep something that belonged to someone who’d died.”