› added 5 years ago

462

TIL that 'goodbye' is a contraction of the phrase 'God be with ye'

Read more thetabernaclechoir.org

via reddit.com

MeDD7 TIL in 1959, Nikita Khrushchev described Mao Zedong to a Chinese diplomat as an "old boot that needs to be thrown out". 'Old boot' in Chinese meant prostitute, which led Chinese officials to believe Mao had been insulted as an 'old whore' due to misinterpretation.
VMv8Z TIL Cato the Elder's constant reiteration of "Carthage must be destroyed" was countered by Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Corculum's constant reiteration of "Carthage should be preserved". Scipio's opinion prevailed at the time because many Romans believed that the threat of Carthage united them.
J1naV TIL somebody has won the Kissinger Death Tontine, where people predict(ed) the death of Henry Kissinger after donating to an organization that "undoes some of the damage of US imperialism", winner gets some booze
9nwD TIL actor Stephen Tobolowsky (Ned Ryerson) was held hostage at a Dallas Safeway when he was 25. A stranger stopped him and said “I see you have mangos, the most exotic of fruit” before putting a .45 to his head. Tobolowsky then gave the man his actual address and invited him over for dinner.
baKp TIL that on his deathbed, Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World, asked his wife to inject him with LSD and for her to stay by him, he died 6 hours later and she notes it as ‘the most beautiful death she has ever experienced’