› added 4 years ago

77

TIL of all the gold medals won by US swimmers in the history of the Olympics, nearly 10% were won by Michael Phelps. (23/246)

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

BgWYD TIL The real reason your nose runs when you cry is because our tears drain into the nasolacrimal ducts which run down each side of the nose and mixes with the nasal mucus (snot) while the rest flows onto our face.
e07xk TIL in Victorian England they used to take group photos with their dead ones and, given the long exposure time, the dead were often seen more sharply than the slightly-blurred living, because of their lack of movement
Vxbm TIL - Empty skies after 9/11 caused a measured change in temps due to lack of jet contrails in the sky
N7xQQ TIL that during the SARS epidemic the World Health Orginization, under pressure from China, refused to give help to Taiwan, denying them critical information and access to tests. Taiwan would end up having a 21% mortality rate, as opposed to less than 7% in China.
9Yj9Q [TIL] that though Finland was allied with Germany during WW2, they refused to expel their native (and immigrant) Jewish population, with those serving in the army taking particular delight in speaking Hebrew around the SS and Wehrmacht in Finland.