› added 11 years ago

247

TIL that over 1000 year ago a mysterious Viking smith was able to forge swords of modern quality steel. They were far better than anything else in the world for over a millenium, including katanas. Only 44 examples were ever found. They are called +ULFBERT+H

Read more youtube.com

via reddit.com

1aPLV TIL: Olympus Mons on Mars is so big the escarpment, or cliffs, around the base of the mountain are as high as 6 miles tall, which is taller than Mt. Everest, which for reference is only about 5.5 miles tall.
5VWDp TIL in 1943, the United States military attempted to segregate the pubs in Bamber Bridge. In response, the local Englishmen hung "Black soldiers only" signs on all pubs as a form of protest.
9XvM TIL Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra couldn’t stand each other. On the set of Guys and Dolls, Sinatra referred to Brando as “Mumbles,” so in a scene where Sinatra had to eat cheesecake Brando kept deliberately screwing up his lines so Sinatra had to keep eating more and more cheesecake in retakes.
nWnLW TIL "Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water" by Limp Bizkit is the fastest-selling rock album ever in the United States. It sold 1,055,000 copies in the first seven days of it's release. It broke the record held by Pearl Jam for their album "Vs."
MeNyb TIL that the House of Representatives briefly renamed the "french fries" in their cafeteria to "freedom fries" as part of a protest at France's opposition to a war on Iraq