› added 5 months ago

87

TIL that Canadians can request a flag that was used on Parliament Hill. Despite flags being changed daily or weekly, depending on their placement, the high demand means the current wait time is over 100 years.

Read more canada.ca

via reddit.com

4XyZg TIL that at Ford's Theatre a portrait of George Washington is hung on the box where President Abraham Lincoln was shot. At the time, there was no official presidential seal or symbol, so owner John T. Ford hung the portrait there, as a symbol of the office.
GAnJj TIL that Honey Smacks (then known as Sugar Smacks), during its 1950s debut, had the highest sugar content of any US cereal, at 55% per weight.
DZgg Til that a dental assistant attempted suicide by intravenously injecting 135 grams of mercury. She survived, and and suffered none of the renal, gastrointestinal, or neurologic effects that can result from the oxidation of mercury in the blood and consequent exposure of these organ systems.
Lk8Zv TIL Duke researchers have been trying to reverse-engineer vintage saxophone sound, using X-ray imaging and 3D printing. Saxophone mouthpieces from the 1930s to the 1960s were x-rayed and 3D printed but the conclusion was, "Using the same mouthpiece as Coltrane won't make you sound like him"
GAVMJ TIL Apples are harvested only once a year in the United States, from August to November. If you are eating an apple in the winter, spring, or summer, and that apple came from the supermarket, it was picked the previous fall—as long as 10 months ago, if it’s July 1.