› added 8 years ago

110

TIL that despite the story that Cleopatra killed herself by letting an asp bite her, it was more probable that she killed herself using a mixture of opium and hemlock.

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YpdpP TIL that "mayday!" is derived from the French "m'aidez!", or "help me!". It was chosen for air communication by an Englishman in the 1920s.
oJb8 TIL Wendy Carlos (who composed for Kubrick’s movies) built her own computer in 1953, 23 years before the Apple I. She was 14.
pxeN TIL In 1987, the US Army’s Night Stalkers stole an Russian attack helicopter from a desert in Chad
VBErZ TIL about the McTrain, McDonald’s attempt in the '90s to turn dining service cars on German trains into mini restaurants. The cars had deep fryers, coffee machines, soda fountains, water heaters, and a 269-square-foot kitchen.
5Yrwr TIL About the Wick Effect, when a human body is destroyed by fire due to their clothing having soaked up melted human fat which then acts like the wick of a candle – external heat/fire sources warm the body and then ignite it. It has been touted as an explanation for spontaneous human combustion.