› added 7 months ago

32

TIL the now derogatory term "spinster", referring either to a woman who is single past the prime age range for marriage or a woman unlikely ever to marry, originated from the 1600s when unmarried women were typically the ones to spin wool. The term was official, used in legal documents.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

8a4KX TIL That the current holder of the title "worst vice president of the United States of America" according to the Time Magazine is held by Aaron Burr, the murderer of Alexander Hamilton. You become eligible for that list only after your first term.
9YO8m TIL viruses are considered by some to be a life form, although they lack key characteristics that are generally considered necessary to count as life. Because they possess some but not all such qualities, viruses have been described as "organisms at the edge of life."
QJPoM TIL some snow plow trucks in Alaska use heads-up displays that show where the road is under the snow, allowing workers to continue plowing roads in zero visibility, white-out conditions.
e06r6 TIL there is a bird that lacks a singing voice to attract mates -- instead it beats its wings faster than the speed of sound to create sonic booms that can be heard by all the females in the area
Z879R TIL the Soviet Union and the United States were originally in talks to go to the moon together during the Cold War. Nikita Khrushchev was poised to accept the plan but then President Kennedy was assassinated. The Soviets did not trust Vice President Johnson, so Khrushchev rejected the plan.