› added 12 years ago

95

TIL the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council account for 67% of all global arms exports

Read more bizjournals.com

via reddit.com

kOdp4 TIL that 2 men were convicted of theft after taking over a thousand copies of free newspapers and selling them to a recycling plant - indicating that something given away for free can be stolen.
GYJ4N TIL that 'figure skating' is named after a requirement that skaters draw figures in the ice, such as loops, figure-8s, and swirls, called "compulsory figures". Once making up the majority of a skater's score, figures were slowly reduced and eventually eliminated from competition entirely by 1990.
wbvJ TIL Somali actor Barkhad Abdi was paid $65000 for his role in Captain Phillips and after production finished returned home to sell cell phones.
9YowQ TIL that an optical illusion caused due to super light refraction may have prevented the Titanic from spotting the iceberg in time and also the closest freighter SS Californian from identifying the ocean liner when it was sinking
PDrE TIL Alexander The Great named around 70 cities after himself.