› added 1 year ago

99

TIL The "Nigerian Prince" scam is written intentionally bad to avoid wasting the scammer's time with false positives that end up going nowhere, and focus solely on the most gullible individuals

Read more mentalfloss.com

via reddit.com

ddXE TIL Italy only became a unified country in 1861 by consolidating several smaller states under one centralized government.
yVNxe TIL that Louis Coulon de Villiers was the only commander to make George Washington surrender, having defeated Washington at the Battle of Fort Necessity in 1754.
7rd8L TIL the word "stereotype" originally referred only to a printing process that allows for the consistent reproduction of a single plate of type and images. "Cliché" meant the sound of molten metal hitting stereotype printing mold.
QaGp TIL The greatest benefit of roundabouts is not their efficiency, but rather that they prevent T-bone crashes. As a result, there are 90% fewer serious injuries, and 76% fewer injuries overall.
XEvaQ TIL A future Chief Scientist of the U.S. Air Force decided to become an aviation engineer when as a boy admired the American planes dropping sweets to him and other kids during the Berlin Airlift. Dr. Yarymovych is also credited for initiation of the Global Positioning System - GPS