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TIL Bertha Benz successfully marketed her husband's invention, the motor car, when she took it for a 65 mile trip, overcoming mechanical problems and inventing brake shoes on the way, and proving that cars were suitable for long journeys. Her trip gained attention, resulting in Benz's first sale.

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xVdB5 TIL about Charles Boycott. He rented out land to farmers during the 20th century. Many farmers couldn't afford to pay him, so many farmers were evicted. Due to this, there were boycotts against him. Those boycotts gave rise to the verb "boycott", named after the person. The word never existed before
p8W4Z TIL a gentleman in the 1940s observed that the burr seeds that stuck to his clothes and his dog’s fur had a tiny hook structure. On closer inspection, he discovered the hooks were more reliable than a zipper. He developed a company popularly known today as Velcro.
wo5mW TIL North Americans have completely different definitions of frown than the rest of the world. For most of the world it's an expression done with the eyebrows, not the mouth.
X0XxE TIL Years ago, when two children were born within 12 months of each other, people called them "Irish twins." When a mom had three kids within three years, they were called "Irish triplets." This was due to a derogatory stereotype of poor Irish Catholic families having lots of kids close together.
kp64 TIL Darren Aronofsky’s debut feature, Pi, was financed entirely from $100 donations from friends and family. In return, he promised to pay each donor back $150 if the film made money, and receive on-screen credit if the film lost money. On a budget of $60,000, the film grossed a total of $3,221,152.