› added 10 years ago

194

TIL that when John D. Rockefeller died in 1937, his assets equaled 1.5% of America’s total economic output. Bill Gates has about .38% today.

Read more forbes.com

via reddit.com

XyRr TIL in 1960 the Mercury-Redstone 1 rocket blasted off and reached an apogee (height) of 4 inches. The rocket also settled back on the launch pad, undamaged, without tipping over.
7rejp TIL that Rock band Van Halen included "a bowl of M&M candies, with absolutely all the brown ones removed" as an indicator whether the concert promoter had actually read the band's complicated contract. It served as a quick check to ensure safety of all equipment
oBmDA TIL in 1899, Denver journalists wrote a fake story that China was tearing down the Great Wall. To their surprise it was picked up by a major newspaper with "confirmation" from officials and illustrations of the wall being torn down. The hoax spread across the U.S. and Europe without being debunked.
d84v9 TIL: Pennsylvania makes 80% of US pretzels
XELek TIL It is a popular myth that a komodo dragon's bite causes death because the mouth of a komodo dragon is so filthy that the bitten animal ultimately dies of a bacterial infection. In fact, a komodo dragon's mouth is just as clean as most animals and it instead relies on venom to hunt prey.